WWt?K: 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY,  LOS  ANGELES 

COLLEGE  LIBRARY 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


Book  Slii)-25(n-9,'59(A4772s4)4280 


A  HISTORY 


OF  THE 


MENTAL  GROWTH  OF  MANKIND 


IN 


ANCIENT    TIMES 


BV 


JOHN   S.    HITTELL 


VOLUME    I. 
SAVAGISM 


NEW    YORK 
HENRY   HOLT   AND   COMPANY 


T893 

334  &G 


Copyright,  1889,  1893, 

BY 

JOHN   S.    HITTELL. 


^  4-0  0 

c 


0  PREFACE. 

_.       A  good  record  of   the   mental    growth   of   mankind 

^  would  comprehend  all  the   highly  important  lessons  of 

~^  human  experience,  and  would  be  the  most  valuable  of 

^  all  histories  ;  but  as  it  would  be  precious,  so  it  is  difficult 

-^  of    composition.       Many    authors    have    undertaken    it; 

many  others  may  undertake  it  before  one   produces   a 

work  worthy  of  the  subject;  and  as  failure  may  help  to 

\  clear  the  track  for  success,  I  venture  to  offer  my  contri- 

(i  bution  in  this  matter  to  the  public.     According  to  my 

_i  conception  of  the  history  of  culture,  it  should  give  solu- 

*^  tions  to  such  queries  as  these: — 

"*  Is  man  the  direct  product  of  natural  evolution  or  of 
supernatural  creation?  Are  all  men  descendants  of  one 
primary  human  stock  ?  Were  the  first  men  black,  yellow, 
or   white?     In    what    part    of    the    earth    and    in    what 


geological  period  did  they  make  their  appearance?     Is 
N  — :  the  intellectual  development  of  man  a  necessary  result  of 
^- "his  nature  in  such  an  environment  as  that  in  which  he 
^   exists  and  has  existed    in    historical    times?     Has    his 
s"  progress  been   continuous?     Has  it  shown  itself  in  all 
the  departments  of  life?     Has  it  been  governed  exclu- 
sively by  natural  causes  and  uniform  law?    Has  it  always 

(3) 


4  PREFACE. 

been  beneficent?  What  are  its  main  branches  ?  How 
has  each  of  them  advanced  in  different  ages  and  coun- 
tries? How  has  each  of  them  affected  the  general  wel- 
fare? Into  what  categories  should  we  divide  the  mental 
growth  of  mankind  for  the  purpose  of  getting  the  clear- 
est and  most  correct  conceptions  of  its  advances  ? 

What  are  the  most  important  branches  of  industry? 
How  did  the  arts  of  kindling  fire,  cooking  and  preserv- 
ing food,  chipping  stone  into  edge  tools,  shaping  spears, 
bows,  and  arrows,  tanning  leather,  weaving  cloth,  burn- 
ing pottery,  plaiting  baskets,  building  huts  and  boats, 
tilling  land,  domesticating  herbivorous  animals,  smelting, 
casting,  and  forging  metals, — how  did  these  arts  begin 
and  advance?  How  did  edge  tools  of  stone,  bronze,  and 
iron  become  characteristic  features  of  certain  stages  in 
human  culture?  How,  when,  and  where  did  the  great 
inventions  have  their  origin  and  development,  and 
what  influence  did  they  exert  on  human  society?  How, 
and  to  what  extent,  has  the  productive  power  of  industry 
increased?  Has  the  increase  added  to  the  comfort  of 
man  and  to  what  extent?  Has  any  one  of  the  main 
branches  of  industry  ever  made  much  progress  without 
stimulating  many  of  the  others?  Do  increasing  wealth, 
abundant  machinery,  and  cheap  transportation  contribute 
to  the  greatest  good  of  the  greatest  number? 

What  were  the  social  customs  of  the  earliest  times 
and  how  did  they  change  into  those  of  the  present  age  ? 
How  did  phrases  of  salutation  and  forms  of  obeisance 


PREFACE.  5 

and  prostration  begin  ?  Was  dress  first  used  for  orna- 
ment, for  comfort,  or  for  the  gratification  of  modesty 
and  what  changes  has  it  undergone?  What  matrimonial 
system  existed  among  the  earliest  men  ?  Did  promiscuity 
ever  prevail  extensively?  When,  where,  and  how  did 
polygyny,  polyandry,  and  monogamy  begin  and  spread? 

Is  articulate  speech  of  natural  or  supernatural  origin  ? 
Were  its  first  forms  simple  or  complex?  How  have 
words  been  changed  in  length  and  in  inflection  ?  What 
relations  do  figurative  bear  to  literal  meanings,  and 
abstract  to  concrete  terms  in  the  various  conditions  of 
speech  ?  What  are  the  main  classes  of  language,  and 
how  have  they  arisen  ?  What  are  the  causes  of  simplicity 
and  complexity  in  grammatical  construction  ?  How  did 
the  art  of  writing  begin?  How  did  it  advance  from 
signs  for  ideas  to  others  for  words,  for  syllables,  and  for 
letters?  How  did  printing  commence,  and  how  has  it 
grown? 

How  was  education,  by  the  aid  of  books,  established? 
What  are  its  main  branches?  How  has  it  been  affected 
by  general  progress  ?  What  nations  have  taken  the  lead 
in  it?  What  places  in  it  have  been  occupied  in  various 
centuries,  by  law,  medicine,  surgery,  physical  science, 
engineering,  mathematics,  metaphysical  philosophy,  the- 
ology, philology,  history,  ethnology,  and  ancient  and 
modern  literature  ? 

When  religion  first  appeared  on  the  earth,  was  it  a 
complete  system  of  supernatural  revelation,  needing  no 


6  PREFACE. 

modification  in  creed  or  discipline  to  adapt  it  to  the 
wants  of  men  in  all  ages  and  countries?  Or,  like  other 
branches  of  culture,  did  it  appear  at  first  in  mere  rudi- 
ments, and  did  it  grow  gradually  into  many  complex 
and  highly  differentiated  forms  ?  How  did  low  savages 
come  to  adopt  the  belief  that  the  spirits  of  their  relatives 
continue  to  live  after  the  death  of  the  body,  with  the 
same  needs,  passions,  and  occupations  as  in  the  corporeal 
life,  demanding  offerings  to  preserve  their  favor?  How 
did  this  belief  lead  to  the  erection  of  shelters  over  graves, 
and  to  the  construction  of  temples,  to  the  establishment 
of  periodical  sacrifices,  and  to  the  installation  and  endow- 
ment of  priests,  and  how  did  the  divine  ancestor  of  a 
family  become  the  partial  god  of  a  tribe,  and  then  of  a 
nation,  and  finally  the  impartial  god  of  all  mankind? 
What  are  the  main  features  of  the  leading  religious  sys- 
tems of  past  and  present  times,  and  what  are  and  have 
been  their  influences  on  mankind  ? 

Have  all  men  accepted  the  same  ideas  of  ethical  obli- 
gation? Have  they  believed  that  slavery,  retaliation,  des- 
potic government,  superior  political  privilege  of  a  small 
class,  torture,  and  religious  persecution  were  right,  and 
if  various  ethical  theories  have  prevailed  in  different  times 
and  countries,  have  the  differences  been  marked  by  con- 
tinuous improvement?  Have  they  been  affected,  and  in 
what  manner,  by  the  changes  in  industrial  and  political 
conditions?  Is  our  moral  code  the  product  of  intuitive 
perception,  or  of  experience  guided  by  reason  ? 


PREFACE.  7 

What  nations  have  excelled  in  war,  and  how  did  they 
attain  superiority  ?  What  influence  have  they  exerted 
on  the  world  ?  What  were  the  main  characteristics  of 
their  militar>'  systems  ?  How  has  the  military  art  been 
changed  by  the  introduction  of  metallic  weapons,  gun- 
powder, and  other  developments  in  the  industrial  arts  ? 
How  did  political  organization  begin  and  advance  from 
the  small  group  without  a  chief,  to  the  tribe  with  a  chief, 
to  the  kingdom  with  a  hereditary  sovereign,  to  the  city 
with  an  aristocratic  government,  and  to  the  nation  which 
grants  equal  civil  and  political  rights  to  all  its  adult  male 
residents  born  on  its  soil?  What  have  been  the  main 
steps  in  the  development  of  constitutional,  civil,  criminal, 
international,  and  parliamentary  law? 

What  have  been  the  most  important  contributions  to 
culture,  and  to  what  ages,  continents,  and  races  are  we 
indebted  for  them  ?  What  do  we  owe  to  the  Egyptians, 
Phoenicians,  Chaldeans,  Hindoos,  Chinese,  Greeks, 
Romans,  Jews,  Arabs,  Italians,  Frenchmen,  Spaniards, 
Portuguese,  Germans,  Hollanders,  Scandinavians,  Slavs, 
English,  Scotch,  and  Americans  ?  What  geographical 
conditions  are  most  favorable  to  culture,  and  in  what 
countries  has  it  reached  its  highest  developments  ? 

Is  it  because  of  inherent  capacity  or  of  peculiar  envi- 
ronment that  different  peoples  have  excelled  in  certain 
departments  of  culture?  If,  at  the  age  of  five  years,  a 
thousand  Athenian  boys  had  been  adopted  in  Spartan 
families,  trained   in   the  Spartan  system,  and    in  every 


8  PREFACE. 

manner  treated  as  if  they  had  been  the  children  of  their 
foster  parents,  would  they  have  acquired  the  Spartan 
characteristics?  If  an  equal  number  of  Spartan  boys 
had  been  brought  up  in  Athens  as  the  children  of  Athe- 
nian parents,  would  they  have  grown  to  be  like  the  native 
Athenians?  Is  one  Euraryan  nationality  more  compe- 
tent than  the  others,  to  excel,  in  either  the  fine  arts, 
poetry,  science,  philosophy,  industry,  polity  or  war? 
Has  the  Celt  any  natural  fitness  for  free  government? 
Is  he  superior  to  the  Teuton  in  delicacy  of  sentiment? 
Are  the  nations  of  Southern  Europe  superior  to  those  of 
the  North  in  artistic  genius?  Are  those  of  the  North 
superior  in  mental  and  physical  energy? 

To  these  questions,  which  have  never  been  answered 
satisfactorily,  I  shall  offer  replies,  which,  however  weak 
they  may  be  in  many  points,  will  yet,  I  hope,  contribute 
a  little  to  the  stock  of  historical  truth.  I  shall  try  to 
throw  light  on  human  nature  as  it  is,  by  showing  some- 
thing of  what  it  has  been,^  and  to  trace  in  the  remote 
past  the  origins  of  some  of  our  present  institutions.^  I 
believe  that  continuous  progress  has  prevailed  through- 
out the  past ;  and  that  the  irrepressible  progressiveness 
of  humanity  is  one  of  the  great  facts,  or  laws  in  nature, 
deserving  to  be  classed  with  the  inherence  of  force  in 
matter,  the  definiteness  of  chemical  proportions,  cosmic 
evolution,  biological  evolution,  the  conservation  of  en- 
ergy, and  the  invaluable  correlation  of  the  physical  and 
psychical  forces. 


PREFACE.  9 

I  expect  to  follow  up  this  book  with  other  volumes  in 
which  the  course  of  human  progress  will  be  traced  down 
to  the  present  time. 

Besides  giving  information  as  full  and  correct  as  I  can 
about  my  subject,  I  shall  call  attention  to  the  ablest 
authors  who  have  written  about  various  branches  of 
culture,  and  wherever  I  can  find  material  suitable  for  my 
purpose,  I  shall  quote  their  language  for  the  purpose  of 
enlivening  my  work  with  their  brilliancy  and  stimulating 
the  reader  to  examine  their  books. 

Several  words  of  my  own  coinage  occur  in  this  book; 
others  used  here  are  not  defined  clearly  in  the  dictionaries, 
or  are  not  accepted  by  uniform  usage  in  the  meanings 
in  which  I  employ  them,  and  it  seems  proper  that  I 
should  give  definitions  in  such  cases. 

I  use  culture  only  in  the  sense  of  the  mental  growth 
of  mankind;  culturestep  from  the  G&xxnzw kulhu'stufe ,  as 
a  grade  of  culture;^  and  culture-historical  from  the  Ger- 
man kulturhistoriscli  as  relating  to  the  history  of  culture.* 

I  divide  culture  into  three  main  culturesteps, — sav- 
agism,  barbarism,  and  civilization.  Savagism  is  the  con- 
dition of  the  North  American  Indians,  the  Australians, 
the  natives  of  the  Pacific  Islands,  and  the  negroes  gener- 
ally. They  have  not  risen  to  city  life  and  national 
organization.  Barbarism  is  the  condition  of  the  Aztecs, 
Quichuans, ancient  Egyptians, Phoenicians, Carthaginians, 
Persians,  and  Hindoos,  the  Chinese  and  the  Mohammedan 
nations.     They  have  cities  and  natural  governments,  but 


lO  PREFACE. 

lack  a  high  intellectual  life.  Civilization  is  limited  to  the 
ancient  Greeks,  and  Romans,  and  the  modern  Christian 
nations. 

To  the  Aryans  in  Europe — that  is  the  Celts,  Greeks, 
Latins,  Slavs,  and  Teutons — and  their  descendants  in 
other  parts  of  the  world,  I  give  the  name  Euraryans. 
The  best  word  to  comprehend  productive  toil  of  all 
kinds, — commerce,  transportation  of  passengers  and 
freight,  banking,  agriculture,  mining,  metallurgy,  and 
manufactures, — is  industry.*  Since  the  word  polygamy 
means  plural  marriage,  and  may  indicate  the  marriage  of 
one  woman  to  several  men,  or  of  several  women  to  one 
man,  polygyny  is  here  preferred  to  signify  a  matrimonial 
system  in  which  one  husband  has  several  wives. 

John  S.  Hittell. 

San  Francisco^  September  p,  i8gj. 


CONTENTS    OF    VOLUME    I. 
CHAPTER  I.     INTRODUCTION. 

Section.  Page. 

1.  !Man's  Antiquity... 17 

2.  Simian  Relations 20 

3.  Size,  etc 23 

4.  Acute  senses 24 

5.  Vitality 25 

6.  Habits 27 

7.  Savagism  disappearing 27 

8.  Savage  history 29 

CHAPTER  II.     ETHNOLOGY. 

9.  Races 32 

10.  Australians,  etc 34 

11.  Negroes,  etc 35 

12.  Malays 35 

13.  Polynesians  36 

14.  Americans 37 

15.  Mound-builders  3S 

16.  Aleut  Mounds 40 

17.  Pleistocene  Europeans 44 

18.  Danish  Mounds 46 

19.  Swiss  Pile  Dwellers 47 

CHAPTER  III.     INDUSTRY. 

20.  Fire 51 

21.  Non-tilling  culture 52 

22.  Tilling  savagism 54 

23.  Spear,  bow,  etc 56 

(11) 


1 2  CONTENTS. 

Section.  Page. 

24.  Clubs,  etc 58 

25.  Omnivorous 61 

26.  Bread  and  meat 62 

27.  Daintiness 64 

28.  Salt  and  clay 65 

29.  Cannibalism 66 

30.  Cooking 70 

31.  Meals 73 

32.  Grinding 73 

33.  Water  and  milk 74 

34.  Beer,  etc 75 

35.  Narcotics 77 

36.  Hunting 79 

37.  Birds 80 

38.  Fishing 81 

39.  Bees 85 

40.  Villages 85 

41.  Huts 87 

42.  Furniture 90 

43.  Baskets  and  mats 92 

44.  Dogs 93 

45-  Pigs 94 

46.  Tillage 95 

47.  Implements 98 

48.  Milk-yielders 99 

49.  Boats 100 

50.  Pottery 104 

51.  Thread,  cloth,  etc 105 

52.  Leather 107 

53.  Traffic 108 

54.  Metals 109 

55.  Industrial  achievements no 

56.  Industrial  development 118 

57.  Natural  progress "8 


CONTENTS.  13 

CHAPTER  IV.     SOCIAL  LIFE. 

Section.  Page. 

58.  Promiscuous  group 121 

59.  Relationship  Nomenclature  124 

60.  Feminine  clan 126 

61.  Totem 128 

62.  Australian  Exogamy 130 

63.  Feminine  clan  survivals 132 

64.  Masculine  clan 136 

65.  Capture 138 

66.  Polyandry 139 

67.  Polygyny  141 

68.  Girl's  position 142 

69.  Wife's  position 142 

70.  Marriage,  etc 145 

71.  Brother  adoption  147 

72.  Couvade 149 

73.  Infancy..... 147 

74.  Son-in-law  shyness 151 

75.  Womanhood 152 

76.  Modesty 152 

77.  Nudity 153 

78.  Clothing 154 

79.  Ornaments 156 

80.  Hair-dressing 157 

81.  Oil  and  paint 159 

82.  Tattoo 160 

83.  Mutilation 162 

84.  Social  d(^vdopnient... 168 


14  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  V.     INTELLECTUAL  LIFE. 

Section.  Page, 

85.  Capacity 170 

86.  Preponderant  present 175 

87.  Early  maturity 176 

88.  Jollity 176 

89.  Politeness 178 

90.  Salutations 179 

91.  Education 182 

92.  Morality 184 

93.  Amusements 186 

94.  Poetry 187 

95.  Music 189 

96.  Medicine,  etc 193 

97.  Vocabulary 195  >(<' 

98.  Sounds  and  si^jns 199 

99.  Grammar 203 

100.  Rapid   chang^e  204 

loi.  Intellectual  development 205 

CHAPTER  VI.     POLITY. 

102.  Headless  group 207 

103.  Freedom 207 

104.  Unstable  headship 210 

105.  Stable  headships 211 

106.  Industrial  chiefs  212 

107.  Assemblies,   etc 212 

108.  Confederacies.  213 

109.  Retaliation 215 

lie.  Retaliation  restricted 218 

111.  Despotic  chiefs 220 

112.  Succession 221 

113.  Ordeals 222 

114.  Property 224 

115.  Slavery 226 

116.  Nobility 228 

117.  Political  development 229 


CONTENTS.  15 

CHAPTER  VII.     MILITARY  SYSTEM. 

Section.                                                                                                                Page. 
iiS.  War 231 

119.  Battle 233 

120.  Trophies 236 

121.  Fortifications 237 

122.  Initiation 239 

CHAPTER  VIII.     RELIGION. 

123.  Spirits 245 

124.  Imaginary  world 247 

125.  Devout  fear 250 

126.  Next  life 254 

327.  Burial,  etc 257 

21S.  Mourning 259 

129.  Soul  worship 262 

130.  Totemism 265 

131.  Fetishism 266 

132.  Ancestor  worship 269 

133.  Offerings 270 

134.  Sacrifices 272 

135.  Human  sacrifices 273 

136.  Gods 278 

137.  Idolatry 282 

138.  Divine  intercourse 284 

139.  Worship 287 

140.  Priests 291 

141.  Sensitives,  etc 295 

142.  Sorcerers 297 

143.  Sacerdotal  functions 300 

144.  Areoi 302 

145.  Revenue,  etc 304 

146.  Taboo 305 

147.  Omens 309 

148.  Temples 311 

149.  Religious  development 316 


l6  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IX.     REVIEW. 

SECTION  PAGE 

150.  Culture  services 319 

151.  Grades  of  culture 320 

152.  Some  characteristics 322 

153.  Departmental  relations 325 

154.  Queer  customs 328 

155.  Benefits  of  war 330 

156.  Benefits  of  slavery,  etc 333 

157.  Benefits  of  religion 334 

158.  Uses  of  evil 336 

APPENDIX 338 

Notes ..  339 

List  of  authorities 373 


A  HISTORY  OF   MANKIND, 


CHAPTER  I. 

INTRODUCTION. 

Section  i  .  Man's  Antiquity. — Man  has  existed  on  the 
earth  certainly  forty  thousand  and  perhaps  two  hundred 
thousand  years/  In  the  pleistocene  era,  when  periods  of 
subtropical  warmth,  continuing  each  for  thousands  of 
years,  alternated  with  others  of  glacial  cold  in  central 
Europe,  he  dwelt  there.  In  the  last  of  at  least  four 
warm  intcrglacial  periods  of  that  era,  the  climate  of  the 
Northern  Hemisphere  was  so  mild  that  the  vegetation  in 
latitude  75°  N.  was  about  the  same  as  that  now  found 
twenty  degrees  nearer  to  the  equator;  and  the  lion,  the 
hippopotamus,  the  kafifir  cat,  the  hyena,  and  many  plants 
of  subtropical  character  lived  as  far  north  as  England. 
The  woolly  elephant  or  mammoth,  the  woolly  rhinoceros 
and  the  sabre-toothed  tiger  were  also  there,  but  these 
animals,  now  extinct,  may  have  been  able  to  endure  the 
severe  winters  of  the  northern  temperate  zone.  The  era 
or  the  last  era  of  the  subtropical  mammals  in  northwest- 
ern Europe  was  followed  by  the  reapi)carance  of  the 
great  ice  sheet,  at  which  time  the  land  there  had  a  con- 

(17) 


1 8  A    HISTORY   OF    MANKIND. 

siderably  higher  elevation  than  now ;  and  then  the  land 
sank,  the  climate  became  milder  and  the  ice  melted,  but 
the  elephant,  the  hippopotamus,  the  rhinoceros,  the  lion, 
and  the  tiger  did  not  return.  Another  subsidence  of  the 
land  occurred  and  in  the  midst  of  this  era,  man,  with  pol- 
ished stone  tools  and  presumably  with  tillage,  made  his 
appearance.  Again  the  land  in  England  rose,  this  time 
to  an  elevation  about  fifty  feet  above  its  present  level, 
and  numerous  small  glaciers  appeared  in  the  British  and 
Scandinavian  mountains.  Still  later  the  land  sank  to 
thirty  feet  below  its  present  level,  and  then  Europe  took 
its  present  shape,  but  this  occurred  so  long  before  our 
time  that  no  record  or  tradition  of  the  changes  in  the 
form  and  area  of  the  continent  has  been  preserved  among 
its  people. 

Geikie,  Croll,  Lyell,  and  other  learned  and  able  schol- 
ars who  have  written  about  the  antiquity  of  mankind, 
believe  that  our  species  has  existed  on  the  earth  at  least 
two  hundred  thousand  years.  Some  authorities  who 
have  investigated  the  history  of  oriental  nations  tell  us 
that  presumably  not  more  than  fifteen  thousand  and  per- 
haps not  more  than  ten  thousand  years  have  elapsed 
since  the  introduction  of  bronze  tools  began  to  lift  men 
from  savagism  into  barbarism.  Not  three  thousand 
years  have  passed  since  some  of  the  Greek  states 
emerged  from  barbarism  into  civilization.  All  mankind 
spent  perhaps  one  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  years  in 
savagism ;  and  during  part  of  the  last  twenty  thousand 
years,  a  small  proportion  of  our  race  has  been  in 
higher  conditions  of  culture.  The  development  of  tilling 
from  non-tilling  culture  was  an  achievement  of  greater 
difficulty  and  demanded  more  time  than  that  of  barbar- 
ism from  savagism. 


SEC.    I.    MAX'S    ANTIQUITY.  I9 

The  earliest  traces  of  men  hav^e  been  found  in  Europe 
and  North  America,  because  in  those  continents  there 
has  been  the  greatest  amount  of  mining  and  excavation, 
under  the  inspection  of  highly  educated  men ;  but  it  does 
not  follow  that  the  earliest  men  lived  in  those  continents. 
On  the  contrary,  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  human 
race  first  appeared  in  the  torrid  portions  of  Africa  or 
Malaysia,*  where  the  black  race,  the  nearest  human  rela- 
tiv^es  of  the  highest  brutes,  the  anthropoid  apes — and  pre- 
sumably older  than  the  more  highly  developed  yellow 
and  white  races,  are  indigenous.  Reasoning  from  the 
changes  observed  in  later  ages,  we  infer  that  these  primi- 
tive black  men  were  smaller  in  body  and  brain,  and  more 
ape-like  in  their  forms  and  faces,  than  the  Africans  of 
modern  times. 

Of  the  men  who  lived  more  than  twenty  thousand 
years  ago,  it  may  be  said  that  we  know  nothing  save 
that  they  lived  and  had  edge-tools  of  stone.  We  find 
their  bones,  their  arrowheads,  their  flint  knives  or  scrap- 
ers, and  the  marks  of  their  tools  or  weapons  on  fossil 
wood  or  bone,  and  very  little  more.  These  remains  fur- 
nish much  material  for  remark  to  the  archaeologist,  but 
little  for  the  historian. 

All  men  belong  to  one  species.  All  races  of  humanity 
are  indefinitely  fertile  in  their  crosses  with  one  another. 
In  all  tribes  and  nations  and  in  all  stages  of  culture,  man 
has  the  same  general  features  of  physical  form  and  men- 
tal character.  He  has  the  same  number  of  pulse  beats 
and  of  inhalations  in  a  minute,  the  same  average  temper- 
ature, the  same  wants,  the  same  passions.*  In  his  most 
primitive  condition  he  contained  the  potentialities  of 
speech,  industry,  society,  polity  and  religion,  as  they  now 
appear.     He  was  a  struggling,  toiling,  reasoning  animal, 


20  A    HISTORY    OF    MANKIND. 

with  a  capacity  for  and  an  irresistible  impulse  towards  con- 
tinuous and  unlimited  mental  progress.  He  was  so  con- 
stituted that  he  could  enjoy  keen  pleasures  and  endure 
bitter  sorrows ;  that  his  days  should  be  fringed  with 
smiles  and  tears ;  that  life  should  be  dear  to  him  ;  and 
that  his  attachment  to  it  should  increase  as  his  genera- 
tions multiplied. 

By  his  physical  and  intellectual  qualities,  man  is 
enabled  to  obtain  his  food,  to  preserve  his  life,  and  to 
make  his  permanent  home  in  every  zone,  and  in  every 
continent.  He  can  live  where  ether  boils  and  where 
mercury  freezes  in  the  open  air.  The  land  animals,  the 
birds,  the  aquatic  mammals,  and  the  fishes  of  every  zone 
furnish  food  nutritious  to  him.  He  can  reach  all  parts 
of  the  earth's  surface  save  those  within  a  few  detrrees  of 
the  poles.  He  dominates  over  the  globe,  occupies  most 
of  it,  and  it  is  by  his  sufferance  that  many  of  the  other 
occupants  are  permitted  to  live. 

Sec.  2.  Simian  Relations. — The  negro's  skeleton  is 
relatively  heavier  than  that  of  the  white  man  ;  his  skull 
is  thicker,  and  sometimes  in  Uahomy  has  no  sutures.^ 
In  fighting,  black  men  often  butt  each  other  like  rams, 
and  they  break  a  stick  over  the  head  rather  than  over 
the  knee.  The  swords  of  the  Spaniards  were  often 
broken  on  the  heads  of  the  aborigines  in  Jamaica.^  The 
Australians  break  sticks  over  their  heads,^  and  they  have 
duels,  in  which  the  combatants  exchange  alternate  blows 
on  the  head  with  stout  clubs,  each  standing  still  in  his 
turn  to  give  his  enemy  a  fair  chance,  until  one  is  stun- 
ned. Every  blow  would  disable  if  not  kill  a  European. 
The  tibia  and  fibula  in  the  shin  are  sometimes  united  into 
one  bone  through  tlicir  whole  length  in  the  black  and 
more  rarely  in  the  yellow  man,  as  they  always  are  in  the 


SEC.    2.    SI.MIAX    RKLATIONS.  21 

ape,  Sif/i/a  troglodytes.  The  arch  of  the  negro's  instep  is 
low  and  his  foot  flat,  resembhng  the  foot  of  the  ape  and 
suggesting  the  exaggeration  of  the  burlesque  song,  "  The 
hollow  of  his  foot  makes  a  hole  in  the  ground."  His 
heel  projects  more  than  the  white  man's,  so  that  he  needs 
a  different  shoe.*  Often  when  standing,  instead  of  throw- 
ing his  weight  squarely  on  his  flat  sole,  he  rests  on  the 
outer  edges  of  his  feet,  as  do  the  large  apes.*  The  sesa- 
moidal  bones  at  the  joints  of  the  thumb  and  great  toe 
are  found  rarely  in  Europeans  and  often  in  negroes.** 

The  legs  are  shorter  relatively  in  the  savage  than  in 
the  civilized  man  ;^  and  in  the  African  the  lower  arm  and 
hand  are  longer.  When  standing  upright  he  can  touch 
his  knee-cap  with  the  point  of  his  middle  finger,  while 
the  white  man  cannot  come  within  two  inches  of  it.* 
In  the  civilized  man  the  tibia  is  round  ;  in  many  savages, 
including  Michigan  mound-builders  ^  and  European  cave 
dwellers,'"  it  is  flat  or  platecnymic.  The  perforation  of 
the  lower  end  of  the  humerus  for  the  passage  of  the 
great  nerve  is  found  in  all  the  quadrumana,  in  one-third 
of  the  Europeans  of  the  reindeer  period,  and  in  one  per 
cent,  of  the  modern  Europeans." 

While  the  finger  bones  are  longer  in  the  negro,  the 
fingers  down  to  the  separation  between  them  are  shorter, 
the  flesh  or  skin  e.xtending  fartlier  from  the  knuckles,'"' 
and  one  of  the  most  strongly  marked  lines  of  the  P'uro- 
pean  hand,  that  of  the  last  three  fingers,  is  wanting  in  the 
blacks,  and  is  slightly  marked  in  the  yellow  and  red 
men.'* 

In  the  narrowness  of  the  pelvis'*  and  in  the  breadth  and 
arched  form  of  the  chest,  the  negro  occupies  an  interme- 
diate position  between  the  white  man  and  the  apc."^  A 
comparison  of  the  profiles  of  the  heads  of  different  races 


22  A    HISTORY    OF    MANKIND. 

shows  that  in  prognathism  or  projection  of  the  lower 
part  of  the  face,  the  black  man  is  nearest  to,  and  the  white 
man  farthest  from  the  ape,  with  the  yellow  in  the  inter- 
mediate position.  Flatness  of  nose  and  projection  of 
teeth  accompany  general  prognathism.  The  negro's 
occiput,  instead  of  projecting  beyond  his  thick  neck,  is 
on  a  line  with  it,  and  the  same  peculiarity  is  found  in 
some  Polynesians.  The  flat  nasal  bones  are  ossified  with 
the  adjacent  bones  in  some  Africans  as  they  are  in  apes.^^ 

The  women  of  the  Bushmen  tribe  have  a  remarkable 
development  of  fit  on  the  hips  which  in  some  cases  pro- 
jects out  backwards  six  inches  or  more,  with  a  nearly 
even  horizontal  upper  surface.  This  hump, — of  which 
engravings  may  be  found  in  many  scientific  works,  from 
drawings  of  the  woman  who  attracted  great  attention 
at  Paris  in  the  last  century  as  "  the  Hottentot  Venus," — 
has  its  counterpart  in  some  of  the  female  apes." 

NeoToes  and  Australians  have  little  calf  on  the  lesf ,  and 
anatomists  say  that  the  calf  is  one  of  the  peculiar  features 
of  humanity.  One  of  the  most  remarkable  peculiarities 
of  the  black  men,  is  the  woolly  character  of  the  hair. 
Instead  of  being  long  and  straight,  or  curly,  as  in  white 
men,  it  is  either  short  or  kinky.  In  many  tribes  it  does 
not  exceed  three  inches  in  length,  and  gathers  in  little 
rope-like  twists  about  a  third  of  an  inch  in  diameter.  In 
the  Hottentots,  Bushmen  and  Papuans,  the  hair  grows  in 
tufts  with  intervening  bare  patches  of  scalp,  and  instead 
of  gradually  diminishing  in  length  and  thickness  of 
growth  on  the  temples  and  neck,  as  in  the  white  man,  it 
ceases  abruptly,  suggesting  to  the  inexperienced  Euro- 
pean observer,  the  idea  that  it  must  be  a  wig.^* 

In  many  tribes,  the  women  are  more  muscular  than 
the  men.     They  carry  heavier  burdens,  and  can  swin), 


SEC.    3.    SIZE,    ETC.  23 

farther.''  The}^  are  accustomed  to  steady  ton,  while  the 
men  are  iu)t.  And  )-et,  in  consequence  of  very  early' 
marriages  and  the  custom  of  suckling  their  children  for 
at  least  three  years,  with  occasional  subjection  to  excess- 
ive fatigue  and  insufficient  food  supply,  they  are  wrinkled 
before  they  reach  twenty-five.  In  several  tropical  coun- 
tries, they  cease  to  bear  children  before  they  have  reached 
that  age.""  With  rare  exceptions,  they  have  neither  finely- 
shaped  features  nor  charming  expression ;  and  the  round- 
ness of  youth  disappears  before  they  are  out  of  their 
teens.  The  beauty  of  the  mature  woman  is  a  product  of 
civilization.  In  certain  tribes  nearly  all  the  children  are 
born  at  one  season  of  the  year,  as  in  many  species  of 
brutes. 

These  physical  variations  between  savages  and  civil- 
ized men  are,  nearly  all,  caused  by  differences  in  culture. 
They  are  results  of  intellectual  development  accompanied 
by  different  modes  of  life,  and  as  such  must  be  considered 
as  belonging  to  the  history  of  the  mental  growth  of  the 
species. 

Sec.  3.  Size,  etc. — The  primitive  negroes  were  prob- 
ably smaller  than  modern  savages,  who  generally  are 
smaller  than  civilized  men.  The  average  height  of  the 
Dokos,  Akkas  and  Abongos  is  four  feet  and  one  inch; 
of  the  Bushmen  four  feet  and  a  half;  of  the  Veddahs 
and  Andamanese,  less  than  five  feet ;  and  of  the  Brazil- 
ian Indians,  the  Aleuts,  the  Eskimos  and  some  savage 
tribes  of  Northern  Asia,  less  than  five  feet  four  inches.^ 
The  prehistoric  cave  dwellers  of  Europe  were  small,  and 
the  hilt  of  the  swords  of  the  bronze  age  are  too  short  for 
the  modern  European  hand. 

The  savage  has  relatively  a  larger  alimentary  system 
than    the  civilized    man,  nnd    can  cat  more   at  a  meal. 


24  A    HISTORY    OF    MANKIND. 

The  Bushmen  have  "  powers  of  stomach  similar  to  beasts 
of  prey,  both  in  voracity  an  1  in  the  power  of  supporting 
hunger."^  A  Yakoot  or  a  Tungoos  can  devour  forty 
pounds  of  meat  in  a  day.'  Wonderful  stories  are  told  of 
the  capacity  of  stomach  in  Comanches,  Eskimos,  and 
Australians.'^  Though  the  savage  is  tough  an  i  under 
great  stimulus  can  travel  fast  and  far,  he  dislikes  steady 
toil  and  is,  perhaps,  unfitted  for  it  by  the  irregularity  of 
his  food  supply  if  not  by  the  character  of  his  digestive 
system  or  of  his  mind.  After  gorging  himself  he  wants 
a  prolonged  period  of  rest.  The  Hottentots  have  been 
described  as  "  the  laziest  people  under  the  sun."*  In  con- 
sequence of  irregularity  in  exertion,  the  Bushmen  are 
usually  suffering  with  famine  or  stuffing  themselves  with 
a  feast.®  The  Bhils  "  will  half  starve  rather  than  work."' 
The  Kirghiz  are  exemplary  idlers.^  The  North  Ameri- 
can Indians  hate  and  despise  regular  work  of  every  kind. 
They  act  as  if  they  had  inherited  a  constitutional  unfit- 
ness for  steady  toil. 

Sec.  4.  Acute  Senses. — In  acuteness  of  sight,  hearing, 
and  smell,  the  savages  approach  the  brutes.  The  North 
American  Indian  can  see  objects  at  a  distance  as  dis- 
tinctly with  the  naked  eye  as  a  white  man  can  with 
an  opera  glass.  There  are  tribes  in  which  every  individ- 
ual can  recognize,  by  its  odor,  the  ownership  of  an  arti- 
cle of  clothing  recently  worn  by  any  intimate  acquaint- 
ance. When  meeting  a  stranger  they  want  to  smell  him^ 
as  an  aid  to  identification.  They  can  discover  the  ap- 
proach of  a  white  man  in  the  dark  by  his  odor,  which  is 
offensive  to  them  as  it  is  to  their  horses  and  dogs.  Some 
tribes  can  distinguish  the  sexes  by  the  smell. ^  Savage.s 
dislike  odors  imperceptible  to  the  average  white  nostril, 
and  they  like  or  are  indifferent  to  some  such  as  that  of 


SEC.    5.    VITALITY.  25 

the  stoat,  very  ofTensive  to  the  ci\ihzed  olfactories. 
Man\-  of  the  favorite  perfumes  of  the  black  and  red  man 
fill  the  European  with  repugnance.  To  most  savages 
putrid  meats  and  vegetables  and  unwashed  intestines  of 
animals  are  not  rendered  unwelcome  as  food  by  their 
odor.* 

Sec.  5.  Vitality. — In  the  toughness  of  his  vitality,  the 
savage  resembles  a  brute.  The  healing  power  of  nature 
is  stronger  in  him  than  in  the  civilized  man.  A  severe 
bullet  wound  that  would  immediately  prostrate  a  white 
man,  and  prove  fated  to  him,  despite  the  best  surgical  care, 
will  not  prevent  a  Redman  from  keeping  on  his  horse  to 
ride  thirty  or  forty  miles  and  finally  recovering  without 
the  aid  of  a  surgeon.'  An  Australian  had  his  skull  frac- 
tured to  the  length  of  three  inches  on  the  temple  by  a 
blow  which  entirely  severed  the  temporal  artery,  and  yet 
the  next  day  he  took  an  active  part  in  a  public  gathering. 
Another  Australian  had  the  ulna  and  radius  of  one  arm 
shattered  so  th.it  the  splinters  of  bone  were  driven 
down  into  his  hand,  and  yet  his  wound  healed  without 
bandage  or  operation,  and  notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
many  maggots  hid  mads  their  appearance  on  its  surface.^ 
In  Abyssinia  death  seldom  ensues  when  a  hand  or  foot 
is  cut  oT  in  the  punishment  of  crime.*  Moors,  Arabs, 
Malays,  and  ReJmcn  recover  from  wounds  that  would  be 
fatal  to  Europeans/  Savage  women  in  Africa,  in  the 
Pacific  Islands  and  in  both  Americas  give  birth  to  chil- 
dren with  little  i^ain,  ancl  \\\X\\  very  brief  interruption, 
usually  of  not  more  than  an  hour  or  two,  to  their  ordi- 
nary occupations. 

Of  the  relative  insensibility  of  savages  to  pain,  we 
shall  find  many  proofs  in  the  sections  rclatin  ;■  t  >  lli  ii- 
tattooings,  cicatrizations  and  ceremonies  of  initiation  into 


26  A    HtSTORV   OF   MANKIND. 

the  classes  of  adults,  warriors  and  priests.  Monteiro 
observed  in  Angola  that  negroes  suffered  little  pain 
from  large  wounds,  and  that  their  systems  felt  no 
such  shock  as  do  those  of  whites  from  severe  amputa- 
tions.* Moselcy  says  "  negroes  are  void  of  sensibility  to 
a  surprising  degree.  They  are  not  subject  to  nervous 
diseases.  They  sleep  soundly  in  every  disease,  nor  does 
any  mental  disturbance  ever  keep  them  awake.  They 
bear  chirurgical  operations  much  better  than  white  peo- 
ple ;  and  what  would  be  the  cause  of  insupportable  pain 
to  a  white  man  a  negro  would  almost  disregard."" 

Savages  are  also  relatively  insensible  to  the  discom- 
forts of  cold.  The  Fuegian  when  nearly  naked  seemed 
almost  indifferent  to  sleet,  while  Cook's  sailors,  with  all 
their  clothing,  were  suffering  intensely.  The  Yakootcan 
sleep  without  injury  while  the  frost  forms  on  his  naked 
legs ;  and  the  North  American  Indian  does  not  need 
one-fourth  as  much  clothing  as  does  his  white  neighbor 
in  the  winter  of  Dakota.  The  red  children  of  that  re- 
gion go  naked  in  cold  weather,  a  practice  which  would 
soon  be  fatal  to  white  boys  and  girls  of  the  same  age.'' 
The  Bushman  has  little  feeling  for  changes  of  tempera- 
ture, and  the  Abipone  is  "  extremely  tolerant  of  the  in- 
clemencies of  the  sky."* 

The  colored  races  are  less  susceptible  than  white  peo- 
ple to  various  forms  of  malarious  disease.  In  the  Gulf 
States  east  of  the  Mississippi,  pure  negroes  seldom  die  of 
yellow  fever ;  the  larger  the  proportion  of  white  blood 
in  the  mixed  breed,  the  greater  the  mortality  from  that 
epidemic.  The  dark  hill  tribes  of  Hindostan  suffer  less 
with  malaria  than  do  the  Europeans  in  the  same  region. 
Gout,  apoplexy  and  dropsy  were  unknown  among  the 
aborigines  of  Lower  California.^ 


Sec.  7.  SAVAGisM  DisAt'iPEARiNG.  57 

Sec.  6.  Habits. — Some  savage  habits,  unknown  to  civ- 
ilization, may  deserve  mention  here.  The  Hottentots 
and  Bushmen  sleep  on  their  sides  with  the  knees  touch- 
ing the  breast,  and  the  ceilf  touching  the  thigh  ;  and  the 
Australian  sleeps  rolled  up  like  a  hedgehog.^  The  Poly- 
nesians generally,  the  Malays  and  some  Africans,  as  well 
as  the  poorer  Chinamen  frequently  rest  by  sitting  on 
their  haunches,  with  all  their  weight  on  their  feet."  In 
the  Soudan  and  other  parts  of  Africa  a  man  may  some- 
times be  seen  resting  while  standinsf  erect,  with  one 
foot  on  the  other  leg  above  the  knee,  steadying  himself 
with  his  spear.^  In  the  midst  of  a  tiresome  march,  the 
Aymara  prepares  himself  for  continuing  his  journey  by 
standing  for  a  few  minutes  on  his  head.* 

Sec.  7.  Savagisiii  Disappearing. — Savagism  is  dimin- 
ishing rapidly  in  its  numbers  and  area ;  and  at  the  end  of 
the  next  century  will  probably  have  few  living  repre- 
sentatives. Since  1500  A.  n.,  many  tribes  have  died  out; 
many  have  greatly  decreased,  and  none  have  gained 
much  in  number.  The  rapid  diminution  has  been  ob- 
served under  the  dominion  of  the  Spanish,  Portuguese, 
French,  P^nglish,  Russian,  American  and  aboriginal  gov- 
ernments ;  under  the  Catholic,  Protestant,  Greek  and 
heathen  religions;  under  civil,  military  and  sacerdotal 
rule  ;  in  tropical,  temperate  and  frigid  climes  ;  in  Polyne- 
sia, Micronesia,  Melanesia,  Australia,  Tasmania,  the 
Aleutian  Islands,  the  United  States,  Canada,  South 
America,  the  Antilles,  and  Africa.^  The  last  aboriginal 
Cuban  died  in  1700;''  the  last  Tasmanian  in  1869;*  the 
last  of  many  tribes  once  numerous  cast  of  the  Missis- 
sippi in  unrecorded  years.  There  arc  not  now  one- 
twentieth  as  many  Redmcn  in  the  United  States  as 
there  were  three  centuries  since.*     Cook  estimated  the 


2S  A    HISTORV    OF    MAXKlXD. 

number  of  the  Hawaiians  about  1775  at  four  hundfed 
thousand,  and  now  the  census  shows  about  forty  thou- 
sand. The  Tahitian  islands  had  sixteen  thousand  inhab- 
itants in  1797  an  J  have  now  six  thousand.*  In  1820  the 
Mariana  group  had  twenty  thousand;  in  1880  not  two 
thousand.®  Lavavai  had  one  thousand  two  hundred  in 
1822  and  in  1830  only  one  hundred  and  twenty.  In 
1822  there  were  twenty  thousand  Indians  at  the  missions 
of  California,  and  the  descendants  of  those  people  pure  in 
their  blood,  do  not  now  number  one  thousand,  and  their 
descendants  of  mixed  blood  are  few. 

The  main  causes  of  the  decrease  are  the  inability  of 
the  savages  to  adopt  a  civilized  mode  of  life,  the  diminu- 
tion of  their  food  supplies,  their  inability  to  restrain  their 
longing  for  intoxicating  liquors,  the  introduction  among 
them  of  new  diseases,  their  disastrous  wars  with  the  more 
numerous  white  men,  and  their  expulsion  from  their  an- 
cestral homes  by  advancing  civilization.  Nowhere  has  a 
considerable  community,  savage  three  centuries  since, 
risen  without  admixture  with  white  blood,  to  a  culture 
of  unquestionable  civilization.  Large  areas  occupied  ex- 
clusively by  savages  in  1500  are  now  occupied  exclu- 
sively by  civilized  white  men,  and  other  such  areas  are 
under  the  dominating  control  of  the  Europeans. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  last  century,  the  buffalo  ranged 
over  one  million  five  hundred  thousand  square  miles  of 
North  America,  and  was  the  chief  reliance  of  three  hun- 
dred thousand  Redmen  for  their  food,  clothing,  bedding, 
and  tent  covering.  The  total  number  of  these  animals 
was  presumably  not  less  than  ei;^ht  million  or  ten  million, 
so  that  two  million  could  die  annually  without  diminu- 
tion of  the  stock.  Those  immense  herds  have  now  dis- 
appeared,' as  a  source  of  food.     Under  the  influence  of  fire 


SEC.    8.    SAVAGE    HISTORY.  29 

arms  and  of  the  high  prices  offered  for  pelts,  many  large 
animals,  including  deer,  antelope,  elk  and  moose,  hav^e  en- 
tirely disappeared  from  extensive  regions  now  occupied 
by  white  men,  and  have  greatly  diminished  in  regions 
still  inhabited  exclusively  by  Redmcn.  Under  the  de- 
mand for  the  oil  and  skin  of  seals,  and  for  the  ivory  of 
walruses,  those  aquatic  mammals  have  been  greatly  re- 
duced in  numbers,  and  the  Eskimos  are  thus  deprived 
of  their  previous  supply  of  food.  The  Indians  on  the 
banks  of  the  Columbia  and  Fraser  have  been  deprived  by 
white  fisheries,  of  much  of  the  salmon  which  formerly  as- 
cended to  the  upper  portions  of  those  rivers. 

Various  contagious  and  infectious  diseases  previously 
unknown  to  the  aboriginal  Americans  and  Pacific  Island- 
ers, were  introduced  among  them  by  the  Europeans. 
The  smallpox  swept  away  entire  tribes,  and  the  measles 
proved  fatal  to  many.  Forms  of  throat  disease  previously 
unknown  or  unimportant  became  widely  destructive  in 
Polynesia  after  the  people  began  to  wear  clothes.  While 
under  the  control  of  the  Franciscan  friars,  the  Mission 
Indians  of  California  diminished  rapidly;  and  th  )se  In- 
dians taken  while  children  as  servants  into  American  fam- 
ilies in  California,  generally  died  of  consumption  before 
reaching  the  age  of  thirty. 

Wherever  civilized  settlers  have  established  thamselves 
in  savage  territory,  the  aborigines  have  been  driven  back 
and  in  many  cases  have  been  expelled  by  force  from  their 
ancestral  Homes.  War,  the  practically  unavoidable  ac- 
companiment of  the  spread  of  civilization,  was  in  many 
cases  provoked  much  more  by  the  savages  than  by  the 
civilized  men,  and  the  general  result  has  been  beneficial 
to  mankind.^ 

Sec.  8.  Sai'agc  History. — As  a  necessary  result  of  the 


30  A    HISTORY   OF   MANKIND. 

character  of  the  material,  a  large  part  of  this  volume  will 
be  a  description  of  the  arts  and  institutions  of  different 
tribes,  with  little  information  about  the  circumstances  of 
their  development.  In  savagism,  progress  is  so  slow  and 
so  hidden  from  observation,  that  we  must  learn  its  growth 
only  by  comparison  of  the  various  conditions,  successive 
in  culture,  not  in  the  same  territory,  but  in  different 
countries.  It  has  not  been  given  to  any  one  politi- 
cal organization  to  march,  in  the  plain  view  of  history, 
through  all  grades  of  past  progress,  nor  to  be  its  leading 
exponent  for  many  ages.  As  compared  with  the  long 
existence  of  humanity,  nations  generally  have  short  lives. 
They  strut  far  a  few  years  on  the  scene  and  then,  make 
their  exit,  to  appear  no  more  forever.  A  Celtic,  a  Ro- 
man, and  a  Teutonic  Gaul  have  occupied  the  territory 
and  contributed  to  the  population  of  modern  France.  A 
Numidian,  a  Carthaginian,  a  Roman,  a  Vandal,  and  a 
Mohammedan  state  ruled  successively  before  the  French 
established  their  present  dominion  in  Algiers.  In  Egypt, 
Judea,  Greece,  Italy,  Spain,  Germany,  England,  Russia, 
and  Hindostan,  we  find  revolution  after  revolution. 
Among  peoples  in  the  lower  culturesteps,  generally,  the 
warfare  is  more  bitter  and  continuous,  the  military  or- 
ganization less  compact,  and  the  political  community 
smaller.,  Such  influences  are  unfavorable  to  the  long 
duration  of  tribal  life,  and  to  the  production  of  many 
grades  of  culture  in  any  one  nationality ;  and  they  ren- 
der it  impossible  to  trace  much  mental  growth  in  any 
one  savage  community. 

Every  savage  tribe  has  remained  through  its  whole 
known  career,  in  the  same  or  nearly  the  same  culture- 
step.  If  it  had  no  tillage  when  first  observed  by  white 
men,  then  it  has  not  adopted  tillage  yet.     If  it  had  no 


SEC.    8.    SAVAGE    HISTORY.  3I 

slaves,  then  it  has  no  slaves  yet.  No  tribe  has  a  tradi- 
tion of  inventing  or  adopting  pottery,  weaving,  or  sail 
canoes.  Such  improvements  were  made  in  the  past,  but 
at  a  time  so  remote  that  the  memory  of  their  first  intro- 
duction has  been  lost.  The  Australians,  Kaffirs,  and 
Redmen  of  North  America,  after  being  familiar  for  gen- 
erations with  civilized  arts,  are  still  savages. 

Tlie  account  of  the  manners  and  customs  of  savages 
at  the  beginning  of  a  history  of  mankind  may  be  prop- 
erly historical,  though  it  does  not  trace  distinctly  the 
development  of  the  higher  from  the  lower  conditions. 
It  is  sufficient  to  show  how  one  tribe  lived  on  wild 
plants  and  animals;  and  how  another  obtained  some  of 
its  food  from  land  tilled  by  women ;  and  how  still  an- 
other had  large  stocks  of  food  grown  with  the  help  of 
slaves ;  and  how  one  of  these  forms  followed  another  in 
the  natural  course  of  progress.  Of  the  advance  of  hu- 
manity before  the  time  of  written  records,  we  must  form 
our  conceptions,  to  a  large  extent,  by  inferences  from 
later  conditions.  Such  inferences,  though  very  different 
from  the  proofs  obtainable  for  most  of  the  facts  in  civil- 
ized culture,  are  safe  guides  when  used  with  knowledge 
and  judgment,  and  are  indispensable  aids  in  searching  for 
light  upon  the  childhood  of  humanity. 

In  the  accounts  given  here  of  the  savages  and  their 
culture,  the  present  tense  will  be  used  for  convenience  of 
expression  even  in  reference  to  tribes  which,  in  modern 
times,  have  died  out  or  have  abandoned  the  arts,  customs, 
and  ideas  of  their  forefathers. 


CHAPTER  II. 
ETHNOLOGY. 

Section  9.  Races. — Men  may  be  divided  into  three 
main  races,  the  black,  the  yellow,  and  the  white. 

The  black  race,  in  physical  organization  nearest  to  the 
ape,  and  in  mental  capacity  the  lowest,  numbers  perhaps 
two  hundred  and  fifty  million  persons,  and  occupies 
Australia,  Melanesia,  most  of  Africa,  and  a  small  part  of 
Asia.  Most  of  the  blacks  are  in  the  torrid  zone,  and 
more  than  any  other,  they  are  a  tropical  race.  They 
have  never  produced  a  great  inventor,  merchant,  states- 
man, conqueror,  orator,  author,  or  religious  teacher,  nor 
built  a  splendid  city,  nor  maintained  a  durable  govern- 
ment over  millions  of  people,  nor  made  an  important 
contribution  to  progress  in  historical  times.  The  ne- 
groes and  Congoese,  ever  since  they  became  known  to 
white  men,  have  been  recognized  as  the  fittest  of  all 
families  for  bondage,  and  have  furnished  most  of  the 
material  for  the  slave  trade.  Too  lazy  to  apply  them- 
selves steadily  to  labor  without  compulsion,  too  stupid 
to  form  powerful  military  organizations,  and  too  spirit- 
less to  make  stubborn  resistance  to  oppression,  they 
have  in  all  ages  submitted  t(i  servitude. 

(32) 


SEC.    9.    RACES.  33 

The  yellow  race,  in  physical  organization  between  the 
black  and  the  white  races,  numbers  perhaps  six  hundred 
million  persons,  and  occupies  eastern  and  northern  Asia, 
both  Americas,  the  Malay  archipelago,  Polynesia,  Mi- 
cronesia, and  Madagascar.  It  is  found  in  the  torrid, 
temperate,  and  frigid  zones.  Most  of  the  yellow  men 
are  barbarous,  many  are  savage,  none  are  civilized. 

The  white  race  numbers  perhaps  five  hundred  and 
fifty  million  persons,  and  includes  the  Hindoos,  Persians, 
Afghans,  Belooches,  Armenians,  Georgians,  Circassians, 
Slavonians,  Celts,  Greeks,  Latins  and  Teutons,  who  are 
classed  together  as  Aryans,  and  theJiebrewTS,  Arabs,  As- 
syrians, Babylonians,  Phoenicians,  Carthaginians,  Copts, 
Fellahs,  Abyssinians  and  Berbers,  ^Vho  are  classed  to- 
gether as  Semites.  The  white  ^nen  belong  to  the  tem- 
perate zone  and  all  civilization  belongs  to  them,  but  not 
all  of  them  are  civilized. 

Besides  races  of  different  colors,  mankind  is  divided 
into  archaeological  classes  of  the  prehistoric  and  the  his- 
toric. The  prehistoric  savages  of  most  interest  to  us  are 
the  pleistocene  European  cave  dwellers  and  drift  men,  the 
Danish  shell-mounders,  the  Swiss  pile  dwellers,  who  may 
have  belonged  to  the  white  race,  and  the  Aleutian  echi- 
nus-eaters, who  were  yellow. 

Although  geographical  circumstances  have  great  in- 
fluence on  the  progress  of  civilized  communities,  they 
have  relatively  little  on  tribes  in  low  conditions  of  cult- 
ure. The  small  and  isolated  group  of  the  Tahitian  Isl- 
ands with  only  six  hundred  square  miles  of  area  in  the 
tropics,  without  an  indigenous  cereal  or  quadruped,  was 
the  home  of  the  highest  development  of  modern  savag- 
ism,  and  decidedly  superior  to  Samoa,  Tonga,  and  New 

Zealand,  each  of  which  had  a  greater  area,  larger  popula- 
3 


34  A   HISTORY   OF    MANKIND. 

tioii,  and  greater  natural  resources  in  charge  of  the  same 
Polynesian  race. 

Sec.  io.  Australians,  etc. — The  black  race  is  divided 
into  the  Australian,  Melanesian,  Negro,  Congoese,  and 
Kaffir  families.  The  Australians  have  no  tillage,  no 
pottery,  no  cloth,  no  permanent  chiefs,  and  in  most 
districts,  no  huts  and  no  canoes.  In  competition  with 
all  other  families,  they  can  claim  the  distinction  of  hav- 
ing the  largest  number  of  people  and  the  most  extensive 
territory  in  the  lowest  condition  of  culture. 

Their  continent,  the  only  one  exclusively  savage,  that 
is,  savage  in  its  aboriginal  population,  is  also  the  poorest 
of  the  continents  in  soil,  rainfall,  botany,  and  zoology. 
It  has  no  indigenous  cereal  or  placental  mammal.  The 
greater  part  of  its  area  is  an  arid  desert.  It  has  no  great 
navigable  river,  no  large  fertile  valley.  Africa  has  a  ma- 
jority of  the  savages  of  the  globe,  and  as  compared  with 
the  other  continents,  has  the  shortest  coast  line  in  pro- 
portion to  area,  the  fewest  good  harbors,  and  the  most 
oppressive  climate.  The  Polynesian,  Micronesian  and 
Melanesian  Islands  are  generally  small,  and  lacking  in 
cereals  and  in  indigenous  ruminants,  and  most  of  them 
have  neither  clay  suitable  for  pottery,  nor  flint  suitable 
for  stone  knives.  America  is  poor  in  indigenous  cereals 
and  ruminants. 

The  Melanesians,  called  also  Papuans  or  negrillos, 
number  perhaps  two  hundred  thousand  and  occupy  Mel- 
anesia or  the  tropical  Pacific  Islands,  extending  through 
fifty  degrees  of  longitude  from  Fiji  to  Wagen  in  the  south- 
ern hemisphere.  There  are  also  a  few  small  communities 
of  Melanesians  in  the  Malay  archipelago,  and  these  are 
about  as  low  in  culture  as  the  Australians.  The  Papuans 
generally  are  in  the  tillage  culturestep.    They  have  dogs, 


SEC.    12.    MALAYS.  35 

pigs,  chickens,  huts,  and  canoes.  They  have  few  slaves 
and  no  hereditary  nobility..  In  industrial  skill,  political 
organization  and  general  culture,  the  Fijians  are  much 
superior  to  the  other  Melanesians. 

Sec.  ir.  Negroes,  etc. — The  Kaffirs  occupy  Africa  from 
iO°  S.  latitude  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  From  their 
line  to  17°  N.  are  the  Congoese,  between  whose  terri- 
tory and  the  Sahara  are  the  negroes.  The  Bushmen, 
few  in  number,  and  on  the  same  level  in  culture  with  the 
Australians,  belong  to  the  Kaffir  family.  The  African 
blacks  generally  are  in  a  condition  of  impure  savagism. 
By  intercourse  with  white  men  they  have  learned  the  arts 
of  metallurgy  and  pasturage,  and  have  acquired  consid- 
erable stocks  of  iron  and  of  milk-yielding  animals ;  but 
their  polity,  religion,  social  institutions  and  general  mental 
state  are  savage.  They  have  no  public  records,  no  art  of 
writing,  no  orderly  government,  and  no  noteworthy  ac- 
cumulation of  property  increasing  from  generation  to  gen- 
eration. They  have  pottery,  woolen  cloth,  large  canoes 
and  permanent  dwellings.  Many  of  their  tribes  have  des- 
potic chiefs,  and  slaves  ;  few  have  a  well  organized  nobility. 

Sec.  12,  Malays. — The  Malays  occupy  the  islands 
west  of  New  Guinea  and  north  of  Australia,  besides  part 
of  the  peninsula  of  Malacca.  Their  territory  is  nearly 
all  insular  and,  except  Madagascar,  all  in  the  tropics. 
Their  sea-coast  is  extensive  in  proportion  to  the  area  of 
the  land,  and  their  islands  are  near  together,  so  that  their 
situation  is  favorable  to  maritime  commerce.  As  boat- 
builders,  mariners,  explorers  and  colonists,  they  and  their 
descendants,  the  Polynesians^  and  Microncsians,  have  sur- 
passed all  other  savage  families.  They  sailed  far  to  the 
west,  to  the  east  and  to  the  north.  The  name  Mala- 
gasy indicates  that  the  inhabitants  of  Madagascar  immi- 


3^  A   HISTORY   OF   MANKIND. 

grated  from  Malacca;  and  numerous  words  prove  the 
relationship  of  their  speech  with  that  of  the  Malays  in 
Java  and  Borneo,  and  with  that  of  the  Polynesians  and 
Micronesians.  Though  thirty  degrees  of  longitude  sep- 
arate Tahiti  from  New  Zealand,  a  native  of  the  former 
group  could  serve  as  interpreter  in  the  latter,  for  Captain 
Cook.  Traditions  of  the  first  colonizing  expeditions  are 
preserved  in  many  of  the  islands;  and  the  names  of  their 
former  homes  were  carried  with  them  to  the  new  islands. 
The  word  Hawaii — or  its  equivalent,  evidently  of  the 
same  origin, — is  derived  from  the  old  name  of  Java,  and 
is  found  in  Samoa,  Tonga,  Roratonga  and  New  Zealand.'^ 

Since  ancient  times,  the  Malays  of  Malacca,  Sumatra 
and  Java  have  been  influenced  by  communication,  more 
or  less  direct,  with  China,  Siam  and  Burma,  from  which 
they  learned  to  smelt  iron,  to  tame  the  buffalo,  and  to 
use  letters,  so  that  they  or  most  of  them  long  since  rose 
into  barbarism.  There  are  however  many  Malays  who 
are  still  savages,  and  of  these  the  general  cultural  condi- 
tion is  very  similar  to  that  of  the  Polynesians. 

Sec.  13.  Polynesians. — The  most  interesting  sub-family 
of  the  Malays  is  the  Polynesian,  which  occupies  New 
Zealand,  Tucopia,  the  Ellice  group,  and  the  tropical 
islands  of  the  Pacific  east  of  longitude  180°.  Except 
New  Zealand,  all  this  territory  is  in  the  tropics,  and  con- 
sists of  numerous  insular  groups.  The  largest  island  has 
less  than  eight  thousand  square  miles  and  fewer  than 
twenty-five  thousand  inhabitants  now,  and  probably  had 
fewer  than  eighty  thousand  people  when  first  known  to 
European  navigators.  The  larger  islands  of  tropical 
Polynesia  are  volcanic  and  rise  in  their  center  to  high 
peaks,  with  narrow  belts  suitable  for  tillage  near  the  sea 
shore.     Many   of  the  smaller  islands  are  of  coral  rock, 


SEC,    14.    AMERICANS,  37 

and  rise  only  a  few  feet  above  the  level  of  the  ocean. 
The  Polynesians  and  the  Micronesians  west  of  them  have 
no  metals,  no  potter}^  no  weaving,  no  public  records  and 
no  herds  of  ruminant  animals,  but  their  lack  of  metals, 
ruminants,  pottery  and  cloth  should  be  charged  to  the 
poverty  of  their  country,  not  to  their  want  of  enterprise. 
They  have  tillage,  slaves,  hereditary  nobles  and  priests, 
despotic  chiefs,  ancestral  gods  and  national  divinities. 
Their  general  culture  is  the  highest  in  modern  savag- 
ism  and  in  a  comparison  of  their  tribes  with  one  an- 
other, the  Tahitians  are  entitled  to  the  first,  and  the  Maori 
to  the  last  plate,  notwithstanding  the  great  advantages  of 
New  Zealand  over  every  other  Polynesian  group,  in  larger 
population,  greater  area,  more  varied'  natural  resources, 
and  the  stimulating  influence  of  a  temperate  climate.^ 

Sec.  14.  Americans. — The  Americans  of  aboriginal 
blood  now  living  may  number  twenty-five  million,  many 
of  them  mixed  with  black  or  white  blood.  They  have 
no  influential  nucleus  of  pure  stock  or  strong  aboriginal 
government ;  and  those  tribes  which  have  kept  their 
blood  pure  or  nearly  so,  are  rapidly  decreasing  in  number. 
They  are  presumably  descended  from  Asiatic  immigrants 
who  may  have  crossed  to  America  by  way  of  the  Aleu- 
tian Islands  or  by  Behring  Strait.'  Similar  arts  and  in- 
stitutions are  found  on  both  shores  of  the  North  Pacific  ;  '^ 
and  the  languages  of  the  New  World,  from  the  extreme 
north  to  the  extreme  south,  all  belong  to  the  same  poly- 
synthetic  class  which  is  akin  to  the  agglutinative  tongues 
of  Northern  Asia.* 

For  convenience  of  description,  the  term  Redmen  will 
be  given  here  to  the  aboriginal  North  Americans  between 
the  territories  of  the  Aztecs  and  of  the  Eskimos.  All 
the  Redmen  east  of  the  Mississippi,  are  in  the  tillage  cul- 


2,S  A    HISTORY   OF    MANKIND. 

ture  step,  many  possessing  pottery,  cloth,  canoes,  and 
dogs ;  many  of  the  tribes  west  of  the  Mississippi  are  in 
the  non-tiUing  condition  ;  and  the  lower  Californians  and 
some  tribes  in  Central  California  are  so  low  that  they 
have  no  canoes,  no  huts,  and  not  even  dogs.  Thus  in 
the  last  point  they  are  even  lower  than  the  Australians. 
None  of  the  Redmen  have  slaves,  nobles,  despotic  chiefs, 
ancestral  or  national  gods.  The  mound-builders,  who 
were  Redmen,  the  same  in  family  and  general  culture  as 
the  tribes  east  of  the  Mississippi  in  modern  times,  will  be 
the  subject  of  another  section. 

The  Caribs  in  the  region  north  of  the  Orinoco  are  the 
most  advanced  savages  of  South  America.  They  have 
slaves,  nobles,  and  sail  canoes.  In  these  they  venture 
to  all  parts  of  the  Caribbean  Sea.  Most  of  the  South 
American  tribes  in  the  basins  of  the  Amazon  and  La 
Plata  have  torpid  minds  and  low  culture. 

The  Eskimos,  who  occupy  the  entire  northern  shore  of 
North  America  from  Hudson's  Strait  to  Point  Barrow, 
spend  most  of  their  time  in  the  snow.  They  live  in  snow 
huts  through  more  than  eight  months  of  the  year,  and 
depend  for  food  mainly  on  the  blubber  of  the  seal,  walrus 
and  whale.  Tillage  is  impossible  in  their  frozen  soil,  and 
they  have  no  domestic  animal  save  the  dog.  They 
neither  weave  cloth  nor  burn  pottery.  From  the  seal 
they  get  clothing,  bedding,  tent-covers,  boat-covers,  cur- 
tains, leather,  waterproof  garments,  oil  bottles,  thread 
and  oil  for  light  and  cookery. 

Sec.  15.  Mojuid-Bjtildcrs. — Neither  history  nor  tra- 
dition gives  us  any  account  of  the  origin  of  numerous 
earthworks  found  over  much  of  the  Mississippi  basin  and 
several  adjacent  regions.  These  structures,  mostly 
mounds,  have  never  been  counted  with  precision,  but  the 


SEC.    15.    MOUND-BUILDERS.  39 

total  number  has  been  estimated  at  fifty  thousand.  In 
Ohio  there  are  thirteen  thousand ;  in  a  semi-circle  east  of 
the  Mississippi  River,  with  a  radius  fifty  miles  long  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Illinois  river  as  a  center,  there  are  five 
thousand/  The  works  are  most  numerous  in  or  near 
fertile  valleys  and  were  found  on  the  sites  of  many  now 
flourishing  cities,  including  Chicago,  St,  Louis,  Cincin- 
nati, Milwaukee  and  Dayton.  Of  these  works  a  majority 
are  conical  mounds,  erected  for  sepulchral  or  military 
purposes,  ranging  from  five  to  ninety  feet  in  height  and 
averaging  perhaps  twenty.  Some  of  the  larger  mounds 
of  irregular  shape  must  have  been  intended  for  public 
worship.  The  largest  of  these,  at  Cahokia,  Illinois,  is 
seven  hundred  feet  long,  five  hundred  wide,  and  at  the 
highest  point,  ninety  feet  high.  It  covers  six  acres,  and 
its  solid  contents  are  estimated  to  be  seven  hundred  and 
forty  thousand  cubic  yards.  Many  of  the  mounds  are 
shaped  like  animals ;  and  one  resembles  a  mammoth. 
As  a  general  rule  the  material  of  the  mound  is  exactly 
the  same  as  that  of  the  adjacent  soil. 

Besides  the  mounds,  there  are  numerous  walls  evi- 
dently constructed  for  the  purposes  of  fortifications. 
These,  when  first  observed  by  the  white  men,,  were 
usually  from  ten  to  fifteen  feet  wide,  and  in  the  middle 
about  a  foot  or  two  feet  above  the  level  of  the  adjacent 
soil.  The  walls  inclosed  squares,  circles,  long  parallelo- 
grams, octagonal  or  irregular  plots,  and  many  were  on 
hill-tops  near  water  suitable  for  military  purposes.  The 
enclosed  areas  vary  from  ten  to  two  hundred  acres.  The 
material  of  the  walls  is  usually  earth,  rarely  rough  stone, 
never  cut  .stone. 

In  the  mounds  are  found  many  tools  and  ornaments  of 
stone,  vessels  of  unglazed  pottery,  net  sinkers  of  galena, 


40  A    HISTORY   OF    MANKIND. 

awls  of  bone,  beads  of  shell,  bracelets,  pendants,  beads' 
and  knives  of  beaten  copper,  simple  ornaments  of  silver, 
and  pieces  of  obsidian.  The  copper,  silver  and  obsidian 
are  rare.  There  is  no  cast  copper,  no  bronze,  no  iron, 
no  cut  stone,  no  lime  mortar.  There  is  nothing  to 
indicate  a  culture  different  from  that  found  in  the 
same  regions  of  the  first  European  explorers.  The 
size  and  multitude  of  the  mounds  indicate  either  that 
the  population  was  much  denser  formerly  than  in  the 
last  century,  or  that  many  successive  generations  toiled 
in  piling  up  the  earth.  If  it  be  true,  however,  as  reported, 
that  De  Soto  at  one  place  marched  for  two  leagues 
through  a  continuous  field  of  maize,  in  what  is  now 
northern  Florida,  that  region  may  then  have  been  as 
densely  populated  as  was  the  Miami  Valley  when  the 
mounds  were  built.  Lapham,  Carr  and  Jones,  who  are 
among  the  most  trustworthy  writers  on  the  mounds  of 
the  Redmen,  believe  the  modern  Indians  are  the  descend- 
ants of  the  mound-builders.  Lapham  found  that  the 
bones  in  some  of  the  mounds  were  not  more  than  four 
centuries  old.  Many  of  the  military  and  ecclesiastical 
usages  of  the  mound-builders  are  found  among  the  recent 
Redmen.  The  embankments  of  the  Iroquois  to  sustain 
their  palisades  have  made  walls  like  those  of  the  mound- 
builders  ;  and  the  Natchez  and  Creeks  have  erected 
mounds  since  the  white  men  settled  on  the  continent. 

Sec.  1 6.  Aleut  Mounds. — In  many  countries,  the  sites 
of  ancient  savage  villages  are  marked  by  mounds,  made 
by  the  gradual  accumulation  of  refuse  from  their  meals, 
their  fires,  and  their  mechanical  labors.  Such  mounds 
consist  of  ashes,  wood,  coal,  bone,  shell,  fragments  of 
stone  and  dirt.  On  the  banks  of  some  rivers  and  tide- 
waters rich  in  moUusks,  a  great  part  of  the  material  is 


SEG.    1 6.    ALEUT    MOUNDS.  4I 

shell,  suggesting  the  name  of  shell  mounds  used  in  por- 
tions of  the  United  States  and  Australia.  Other  names 
for  such  accumulations  are,  village  mounds  and  kitchen 
heaps. 

The  Aleutian  Indians  have  a  multitude  of  village 
mounds,  extending  through  thirty-five  degrees  of  longi- 
tude from  the  island  of  Attn  to  Cook's  Inlet  on  the 
American  Continent.  W.  H.  Dall,  to  whom  we  are 
indebted  for  our  knowledge  of  them,  opened  some  in 
Attn,  Amchitka,  Adakh,  Akka,  Unalashka,  Amukna, 
and  the  Shumagin  group,  and  he  made  slight  excavations 
in  many  other  places.^  These  excavations  were  remark- 
able on  account  of  finding  no  trace  of  fire ;  and  many  of 
the  mounds  had  strata  indicating  that  the  savages  used  no 
fish,  bird  or  mammal  as  an  article  of  food.  The  mounds 
are  slight  elevations  near  fresh  water,  and  near  harbors 
where  canoes  could  land  in  rough  weather,  and  consist  of 
three  strata.  Of  these  the  first  and  lowest  was  deposited 
when  the  people  ate  nothing  but  the  echinus,  a  shell- 
fish ;  the  second,  when  their  food  consisted  exclusively 
of  fish ;  and  the  third,  when  they  had  added  birds  and 
mammals  to  their  list  of  provisions. 

The  echinus  is  a  marine  mollusk  which  spends  part  its 
life  in  deep  v/ater,  but  comes  to  the  shore  at  all  seasons 
of  the  year.  Having  neither  acute  senses  nor  means  of 
speedy  movement,  it  does  not  readily  discover  nor  easily 
avoid  its  enemies,  and  can  be  taken  with  little  effort 
by  the  rudest  savages.  In  all  the  Aleut  mounds  opened 
by  Mr.  Dall,  the  layer  of  echinus  shells  was  found.''  In 
most  cases  it  was  two  or  three  feet  deep,  and  in  one 
mound  covered  an  area  of  four  acres.  Nine-tenths  of  the 
material  in  this  layer  consists,  as  he  says,  "  of  the  broken 
test  and  .spines  of  the  echinus,"  and  the  other  tenth  con- 


42  A    HISTORY    OF    MANKIND. 

sists  of  the  shells  of  other  mollusks  intermingled  with 
some  few  fish  bones.  There  are  no  ashes  nor  coal,  nor 
much  soil  or  decayed  vegetable  matter.  Neither  is  there 
any  knife,  awl,  stone,  bone,  or  shell  shaped  artificially  to  an 
edge  or  point;  no  skin-scraper;  no  whorl  for  a  spindle;  no 
hook  ;  no  pottery ;  no  trace  of  fire  or  cooking.  The  only 
articles  shaped  by  art  are  some  hammer  stones,  with 
slight  hollows  on  opposite  sides,  for  thumb  and  finger. 
These  were  used,  perhaps,  for  breaking  the  shells  of  the 
echinus.^  Near  the  top  of  the  stratum  are  some  few  net 
sinkers  of  stone. 

The  second  layer  made  up  of  fish  bones,  commences 
abruptly  as  if  the  echinus-eater  had  disappeared  com- 
pletely and  had  been  succeeded  by  a  different  commu- 
nity who  depended  on  fish  exclusively  for  their  food.  As 
the  lowest  layer  contains  little  except  echinus  shells,  so 
the  second  is  made  up,  at  least  in  its  lower  portion,  almost 
entirely  of  the  bones  offish,  and  of  species  now  found  in  the 
vicinity.  As  in  the  first  stratum,  so  in  the  second,  there 
is  no  trace  of  fire.  The  condition  of  the  bones  suggests 
that  the  fish  were  eaten  raw  as  they  now  are  occasionally 
by  the  Aleuts.  Old  men  among  them  attribute  the  fre- 
quency of  disease  to  the  degenerate  custom  of  cooking. 
The  fish  bone  stratum  has  an  average  thickness  of  two 
feet.  It  contains  numerous  net  sinkers  and  some  few 
spear-heads  of  stone,  but  no  trace  of  houses.  Two  skulls 
of  adults  found  in  this  stratum  have  a  mean  capacity  of 
one  thousand  three  hundred  and  twenty  cubic  centimetres, 
indicating  very  small  brains. 

The  second  stratum  gradually  changes  into  the  third 
or  mammal  layer,  which  contains  bones  of  the  hair 
seal,  the  fur  seal,  the  sea  lion,  the  walrus,  the  whale, 
and  many  birds.     In  the  lower  portions  of  the  stratum 


SEC.    1 6.    ALEUT   MOUNDS.  43 

are  found  lance-heads  of  stone,  and  in  the  upper  portion, 
lance-heads  of  bone,  and  of  bone  and  stone  combined, 
some  with  a  cord  attached  for  fastening  to  a  shaft.  Be- 
sides these,  there  are  awls,  skin-scrapers,  stones  for  rub- 
bing skins,  lamps  of  stone  and  of  unburned  clay,  remains 
of  houses  and  rare  traces  of  fire.  In  some  mounds  the 
last  stratum  is  ten  feet  thick,  and  in  one,  it  covers  an 
area  of  twenty  acres.  Twenty  skulls  of  adults  taken 
from  this  highest  stratum  have  a  mean  capacity  of  one 
thousand  four  hundred  and  eighteen  cubic  centimetres, 
or  six  per  cent,  more  than  the  mean  of  the  two  skulls  in 
the  fish  bone  str^tum.^  One  stone  celt  was  found  in 
these  Aleut  mounds  ;  no  axe,  or  gouge.  Mr.  Dall  thinks 
that  a  thousand  years  should  be  allowed  for  the  accumu- 
lation of  the  echinus  layer  and  twice  as  long  for  each  of 
the  two  later  strata. 

Many  of  these  Aleut  islands  are  distant  twenty  miles 
or  more  from  the  nearest  land,  and  their  inhabitants 
must  have  had  boats,  the  possession  of  which  in  modern 
times  has  been  accompanied  in  every  case  by  edge  tools, 
weapons  and  fire.  If  any  quadruped  or  bird  had  the 
habit  of  carrying  mollusks  to  a  common  feeding  place  on 
the  shore  of  tide  water,  we  might  doubt  whether  the 
lower  stratum  of  these  mounds  were  of  human  origin. 
But  no  brute  has  such  a  habit. 

The  exclusive  dependence  of  the  Aleuts  of  the  first 
stratum  on  the  echinus  for  food,  suggests  that  they  were 
lower  in  culture,  at  least  in  some  respects,  than  any  tribe 
that  has  existed  in  historical  times.  It  is  worthy  of 
remark  that  the  largest  plants  on  these  islands  are  bushes 
not  more  than  four  feet  high.  Dall  supposes  that  after 
the  people  began  to  kill  seals,  and  to  cover  themselves 
with  skins,  they  may  have  warmed  themselves  occasion- 


44  A    HISTORY   OF    MANKIND. 

ally  by  standing  over  grass  fires  with  skin  cloaks  round 
them  in  such  a  way  as  to  shut  in  the  smoke  and  heated 
air." 

Sec.  17.  Pleistocene  Europeans. — The  white  race  com- 
prises the  civilized  Euraryans,  some  civilized  and  many 
barbarous  Asiatic  Aryans,  and  some  barbarous  and  some 
savage  Semites  in  Arabia  and  Abyssinia.  Whether  the 
prehistoric  Europeans  of  the  pleistocene  age  and  of  the 
later  periods  of  tillage  and  bronze  culture  were  white 
men,  is  doubtful. 

Between  two  glacial  periods  man  lived  in  Switzerland  ;^ 
and  there  were  men  in  California  before  the  rivers  flowed 
in  their  present  beds  and  before  the  Sierra  Nevada  had 
received  its  present  shape  by  the  aid  of  elevation,  eruption 
and  erosion.'' 

Perhaps  the  earliest  men  of  whom  we  have  numerous 
traces  were  the  drift  Europeans,  so  called  because  their 
remains  are  found  in  the  drift  or  gravel  of  the  ancient 
river  channels  in  France  and  England,  at  elevations 
eighty  or  one  hundred  feet  above  the  level  of  the  present 
streams.  The  erosion  of  the  soil  or  perhaps  rock  to  such 
a  depth  suggests  the  probability  of  the  lapse  of  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  years,  but  there  is  no  distinct  proof 
of  the  length  of  the  intervening  period.^ 

In  the  pleistocene  geological  age  the  reindeer,  the 
musk  ox,  the  marmot,  the  arctic  fox,  the  snowy  owl,  and 
other  animals  similar  to  those  now  found  in  Lapland, 
and  other  lands  equally  near  to  the  pole,  existed  in  Cen- 
tral Europe,  while  that  region  had  a  subfrigid  climate. 
With  them  were  the  hairy  mammoth  and  man.  These 
pleistocene  Europeans  dwelt  in  caves,  and  had  neither 
tillage  nor  polished  stone  tools,  nor  pottery,  nor  woven 
cloth,  nor  domestic  animals.     They  did   not   bury  nor 


SEC.    I/.    PLEISTOCENE    EUROPEANS.  45 

burn  their  dead.  They  had  axes  and  chisels  of  flint, 
bows,  arrows,  arrow-straighteners,  barbed  fishing  and 
fowhng  spears,  daggers,  marrow  spoons,  needles,  skin- 
scrapers  and  amulets  like  those  of  the  Eskimos,  whom 
they  resembled  in  lack  of  tillage  and  of  pottery,  in  indif- 
ference to  the  dead  and  in  skill  as  draughtsmen.  Unlike 
the  Eskimos,  they  were  cannibals  and  had  no  dogs.  The 
bones  of  those  animals  are  not  found  in  their  caves,  and 
such  small  bones  as  dogs  chew  up  and  swallow  are 
numerous.  They  understood  the  value  of  flint  as  a  ma- 
terial for  stone  knives  and  arrowheads,  and  flaked  off 
chips  from  cores.  Their  food  was  mostly  animal  and 
they  cooked  their  meat  with  hot  stones,  whether  by  boil- 
ing or  baking  or  both,  is  uncertain.  They  broke  the 
marrow  bones  of  large  quadrupeds  and  of  men  for  the 
purpose  of  digging  out  the  fat  contents.* 

The  cave  men  continued  to  live  in  Central  Europe 
from  the  subfrigid  pleistocene  to  the  subtropical  or  trop- 
ical pleistocene  period,  when  the  arctic  mammals  had 
disappeared  and  had  been  succeeded  by  the  elephant, 
the  hippopotamus,  the  rhinoceros,  the  hyena,  and  the 
cave  lion.  During  the  thousands  of  years  which  had 
elap.sed  in  the  meantime,  there  was  no  perceptible  im- 
provement in  culture.  The  later  cave  dwellers  of  the 
pleistocene  age  were  like  their  predecessors  in  the  lack 
of  tillage,  pottery,  and  ])olished  .stone.  Rude  as  were 
their  lives,  they  were  not  without  a  taste  for  art.  In 
France,  Britain  and  Switzerland,  the  cave  men  made 
drawings  of  animals  and  hunting  scenes  on  bone,  horn, 
ivory,  and  stone,  with  remarkable  action,  accuracy  of 
proportion,  and  steadiness  of  outline — at  least,  as  com- 
pared with  similar  productions  by  other  savages.*  They 
have   left  us   sketches  of  the  woolly  mammoth,  of  the 


46  A    HISTORY    OF   MANKIND. 

reindeer  feeding,  of  a  horse  with  a  short  upright  mane, 
of  the  stag,  of  the  ibex,  of  the  Irish  elk,  of  the  cave  bear, 
of  the  seals,  and  of  men. 

Sec.  18.  Danish  Mounds. — The  earliest  traces  of  men 
who  had  polished  stone  tools  are  found  in  the  peat  bogs 
and  village  mounds  of  Denmark.  These  bogs  contain 
the  remains  of  three  distinct  botanical  periods.  The 
highest  stratum  has  trunks  of  the  beech,  which  is  now, 
as  it  was  two  thousand  years  ago,  the  characteristic  tree 
of  the  country.  Under  the  beech,  is  an  oak  stratum, 
with  the  pedunculated  oak  in  the  upper  and  the  sessile 
oak  in  the  lower  portion.  Still  lower  is  a  third  stratum 
of  the  scotch  fir,  containing  many  trunks  three  feet  thick. 
This  tree  is  not  now  found  in  Denmark,  and  when  planted 
there  does  not  thrive.  The  climate  must  have  changed 
since  the  Scotch  fir  grew  there  in  forests  of  large  trees. 
Under  one  of  the  logs  in  a  Danish  bog  was  found  a  flint 
shaped  by  man — proof  that  men  lived  in  the  Scotch  fir 
period. 

Contemporaneous,  presumably,  with  the  fir,  are  some 
of  the  shell  mounds,  now  from  one  foot  to  twenty  feet 
above  the  level  of  high  tide.  Some  of  them  are  three 
hundred  yards  long,  sixty  wide  and  three  high.  Their 
material  is  a  mixture  of  shells,  bones,  ashes,  charcoal 
and  earth.  The  shells  of  the  oyster  are  abundant  though 
that  mollusk  does  not  live  in  the  modern  Baltic,  the 
water  of  which  is  too  brackish  for  it.  The  shells  of  the 
cockle,  mussel,  and  periwinkle  are  much  larger  than  the 
shells  of  the  same  species  found  now  in  the  same  waters. 
This  is  another  evidence  that  when  these  mounds  were 
built  up,  the  Baltic  had  a  larger  proportion  of  salt  in  its 
water  and  had  a  wider  connection  with  the  ocean  than 
at  present. 


SEC.    19.    SWISS    LAKE    nWELLINGS.  4/ 

Among  the  common  birds  was  the  penguin,  which 
long  since  disappeared  from  Europe,  but  survives  in 
Greenland.  The  Danes  of  the  fir  period  had  edge  tools 
of  polished  stone,  but  no  metals,  no  cultivated  plants, 
and  no  domestic  animal  save  the  dog.  They  caught  the 
cod,  herring  and  flounder  in  the  sea,  and  they  killed  the 
capercailzie  or  grouse  that  eats  the  buds  of  the  Scotch 
fir.  No  bones  of  mammoth,  elephant,  rhinoceros  or 
reindeer  are  found  in  these  mounds.  The  skulls  of  the 
people  are  small  and    similar  to  those  of  the  Lapps.' 

Sec.  19.  SiL'iss  Lake  Divcllings. — The  largest  body 
of  information  about  prehistoric  savages  in  any  part  of 
the  world,  is  derived  from  relic  beds  found  in  various 
lakes  of  Switzerland.  There  archaeologists  have  found 
tools  and  weapons  of  stone,  bone,  horn,  and  wood, 
household  utensils  of  wood,  pottery,  and  stone,  the  re- 
mains of  houses  and  their  furniture,  the  refuse  of  kitch- 
ens and  stables,  besides  boats,  baskets,  mats,  cloth,  nets, 
thread,  leather,  toys  and  ornaments.  These  things  had 
lain  there  undisturbed  for  thousands  of  years,  until  they 
were  discovered,  collected,  studied  and  described,  about 
the  middle  of  the  Nineteenth  century. 

One  hundred  and  thirty-three  prehistoric  village  sites 
in  sixteen  Swiss  lakes  are  known.  Of  such  villages  the 
lake  of  Neuchatel  has  thirty-six,  the  lake  of  Geneva 
twenty-four,  and  other  lakes,  smaller  numbers.  Of  the 
total  number,  thirty-three  when  last  inhabited  were  in 
the  culturestep  of  stone;  twenty-two  in  that  of  bronze; 
seventeen  it  that  of  iron  ;  and  in  regard  to  sixty-one, 
there  is  no  distinct  statement  of  the  cultural  condition, 
perhaps,  because  since  their  discovery,  their  sites  have 
always  been  too  deeply  covered  with  water  to  permit 
a  satisfactory  examination. 


48  A   HISTORY   OF   MANKIND. 

Most  of  these  villages  were  built  on  piles  in  water 
from  two  to  twelve  feet  deep,  when  the  lakes  were  at 
their  lowest  level.  The  piles  were  from  three  to  eight 
inches  thick,  and  were  driven  from  three  to  five  feet  into 
the  mud.  In  the  villages  of  the  stone  culturestep,  the 
only  ones  to  be  considered  here,  the  piles  before  driving 
were  sharpened  at  the  bottom  with  fire  or  by  stone  axes  ; 
and  at  the  top  were  morticed  to  hold  beams  on  which 
were  laid  floors  of  poles  or  rude  planks.  The  houses 
were  of  poles  wattled  with  twigs,  plastered  on  the  sides 
with  clay,  and  on  the  roof  thatched  ^^■ith  straw.  The 
outer  rows  of  piles  were  wattled,  and  in  some  villages 
stones  were  placed  around  them  to  steady  them.  Walks 
on  piles  led  from  the  land  to  the  platform. 

Such  a  pile  foundation  not  only  cost  much  labor,  but 
after  completion,  was,  in  many  respects,  less  convenient 
than  the  shore  for  a  village  site.  In  case  of  fire  it  was 
difficult  to  save  young  children,  cattle  and  food,  which 
were  kept  there ;  and  through  holes  in  the  floors,  tools, 
cattle,  and  children  would  occasionally  fall.  Such  ob- 
jections were  doubtless  evident  to  the  villagers,  but  they 
were  more  than  counterbalanced  by  the  importance  of 
having  sites  relatively  secure  against  sudden  attacks  of 
human  enemies.  These  villages  were  built  for  constant 
residence,  not  for  occasional  refuge. 

In  some  few  cases,  the  lake  villages,  instead  of  stand- 
ing on  piles,  were  supported  by  an  artificial  foundation 
made  by  sinking  rafts  of  brush  loaded  with  stone  or 
gravel,  and  kept  in  place  by  piles. 

Of  the  thirty  Swiss  villages  known  to  be  of  the  stone 
age,  mentioned  by  Keller,  fifteen  are  in  the  lake  of  Con- 
stance, seven  in  that  of  Neuchatel,  and  one  each  in  :i 
number  of  other  lakes. 


SEC.    19.    SWISS   LAKE    DWELLINGS.  49 

Wheat,  barley,  millet,  caraway  and  poppy  were  culti- 
vated ;  the  seeds  of  the  poppy  and  caraway  being  used 
for  flavoring.  Tillage  seems  to  have  received  much 
attention,  for  manure  was  saved  for  agricultural  purposes. 
Wild  fruits,  berries  and  nuts,  including  apples,  pears, 
plums,  cherries,  grapes,  strawberries,  blackberries,  beech- 
nuts and  walnuts,  were  gathered  for  food.  Domestic 
animals  were  numerous.  The  cow,  the  urus,  the  horse, 
the  sheep,  the  goat  and  the  pig  were  stabled  occasionally 
at  least,  and  perhaps  every  night  in  the  pile  villages.  A 
large  part  of  the  animal  food  of  the  people  was  however 
obtained  by  the  chase  of  wild  animals. 

Pottery  shaped  by  hand  was  abundant.  In  some  cases 
the  clay  for  it  was  mixed  with  powdered  charcoal,  or 
with  small  pieces  of  granite,  silicious  rock  or  partially 
burned  limestone.  Many  of  the  pots  for  cooking  had 
conical  bottoms  which  rested  in  a  clay  ring,  a  pattern 
adopted  perhaps  for  the  purpose  of  diminishing  the  danger 
of  burning  the  cooked  food.  Bowls  and  platters  were 
made  of  wood  and  steatite.  Large  pans  were  perforated 
as  if  for  making  cheese. 

Pieces  of  yarn,  thread,  cord,  rope,  cloth  woven  on 
different  methods  and  matting  are  found.  Some  houses 
had  large  stocks  of  flax,  as  if  belonging  to  professional 
weavers.  Fishing  lines  were  made  of  flax,  and  were  set 
with  baited  hooks.  For  raising  such  lines,  the  prehis- 
toric Swiss  lake  dweller  had  thearpion,  a  peculiar  dredg- 
ing hook,  now  u.sed  for  the  same  purpose  in  the  same 
place.  Among  the  relics  are  netting  pins,  crochet  hooks, 
hairpins,  and  combs.  Glass  and  nephrite  from  Asia,  flint 
from  Germany  or  France  and  amber  from  the  shores  of 
the  Baltic  furnish  evidence  of  traffic  with  remote  lands. 

These  Swiss  lake  dwellers  of  the  stone  culturcstep  were 

4 


50  A   HISTORY   OF   MANKIND. 

superior  to  any  modern  savages.  Their  possession  of* 
the  cow,  sheep,  goat,  pig  and  horse  as  domestic  animals ; 
their  system  of  keeping  them  in  stables  ;  their  cultivation 
of  wheat,  barley  and  flax ;  and  the  construction  of  their 
pile  houses,  when  considered  together,  indicate  that  they 
had  advanced  much  farther  than  the  Tahitians. 

The  wheat,  barley  and  flax  cultivated  by  the  Swiss 
lake  villagers  had  been  brought  from  Asia,  and  probably 
the  cow,  the  horse,  the  sheep,  the  goat  and  the  pig,  bred 
in  stables  on  piles,  were  first  domesticated  systematically 
on  the  same  continent.  Possibly  the  lake  dwellers  were 
Aryans  who,  accustomed  to  cultivating  the  soil  and  keep- 
ing herds  in  their  Asiatic  home,  brought  animals  and 
seeds  with  them  in  their  westward  migration,  and  thus 
introduced  them  into  Europe. 

The  small  proportion  of  bronze  and  iron  relics  found 
in  most  of  the  Swiss  lake  villages  which  were  occupied 
after  the  introduction  of  metals,  implies  that  these  settle- 
ments had  continued  in  the  stone  culturestep  for  many 
centuries.  The  moor  villages  of  Italy,  the  Scotch  and 
Irish  crannoges  or  strongholds  built  in  swamps,  are,  in 
many  points,  analogous  to  the  Swiss  lake  villages,  but 
do  not  give  us  any  important  additional  information 
about  the  stone  age. 


CHAPTER  III. 

INDUSTRY. 

Sec.  20.  Fire. — Of  the  important  arts  acquired  by  man, 
the  earliest  may  have  been  those  of  making  edge-tools, 
of  using  articulate  speech  and  of  taming  fire/  Some 
Australians  and  Tasmanians''  are  the  only  modern  sav- 
ages who  have  not  known  how  to  kindle  fire*  but  they 
possessed  it,  kept  it  burning  continually,  and  carried  it 
it  with  them  carefully,  when  moving.  There  are  many 
countries  where  fire  may  be  obtained  from  natural  sources, 
but  to  get  it  occasionally  by  accident  and  then  to  use  it 
for  only  a  few  hours  is  very  different  from  taming  it  so 
that  it  shall  always  be  ready  to  render  service  in  every 
hut  or  group  of  people.  Without  such  taming,  man 
would  perhaps  never  have  ventured  far  from  the  tropical 
region  in  which  he  had  his  origin.  If  he  had  not  estab- 
lished himself  in  the  temperate  zone  he  never  would 
have  reached  his  present  intellectual  development. 
Besides  protecting  him  against  cold  and  carnivorous 
beasts,  fire  rendered  many  kinds  of  food  more  palatable 
and  more  digestible  to  him,  and  stimulated  him  to  carry  his 
provisions  to  a  place  of  assemblage  and  companionship 
where  the  cooking  could  be  done  conveniently.  Thus  it 
became  a  great  aid  to  sociability,  and  gave  a  higher  value 
to  the  woman  who  became  its  custodian  and  the  chief 
advocate  of  the  social  feelings  connected  with  the  do- 

(5  0 


5^  A   HISTORY   OF   MANKIND. 

mestic  hearth.^  The  construction  of  the  kindhng  appa-* 
ratus,  the  precautions  necessary  to  keep  it  ready  for 
immediate  use,  the  necessities  of  borrowing  and  of  trans- 
porting fire,  and  the  inconveniences  resulting  from  its 
occasional  extinction,  when  it  could  not  be  kindled 
again  soon,  were  stimulants  to  thought,  and  to  mutual 
helpfulness.  There  was  presumably  a  condition  in  which 
the  lack  of  fire  was  the  characteristic  feature  of  an  early 
culturestep,  but  of  this  stage  of  human  growth  we  have 
no  certain  remains. 

In  Australia  fire  is  kindled  by  rubbing  a  hard  stick  in 
the  groove  of  a  stick  of  soft  wood,  until  enough  heat  is 
evolved  to  set  fire  to  wood  dust,  shavings  or  tinder.  The 
fire  drill,  of  hard  wood  pressing  on  a  hole  in  soft  wood, 
is  turned  between  the  palms  in  Polynesia ;  by  a  string 
pulled  first  one  way  then  the  other  in  Dakota  and  the 
Eskimo  region ;  like  a  carpenter's  brace  in  the  Iroquois 
region,  and  in  some  countries  by  a  loose  bowstring  fast- 
ened to  the  top  and  worked  pump  fashion.  In  western 
Africa  the  necessary  heat  is  obtained  by  rubbing  stone 
on  wood  with  sand  between  them  ;  in  Malaysia,  by  strik- 
ing a  bamboo  splinter  with  flint.  The  taming  of  fire  was 
a  necessary  result  of  the  custom  of  making  tools  and 
weapons  of  wood  and  stone.* 

Sec.  2 1 .  Non-tilling  Culture . — Many  eminent  archaeol- 
ogists have  followed  Lubbock  in  dividing  savages  into  the 
paleolithic  and  neolithic,  those  of  the  old  or  rough,  and 
those  of  the  new  or  polished  stone.  The  former  shaped 
their  stone  tools  entirely  by  fracture  ;  the  latter  rounded 
and  polished  off  the  fractured  surface  of  certain  tools. 
The  distinction  between  savage  tribes  on  this  point  has 
small  influence  on  their  manner  of  life,  and  little  cul- 
ture-historical  importance.     After  taking  a  comprehen- 


SEC.    21.    NON-TILLING    CULTURE.  53 

sive  view  of  the  savages  known  to  civilized  observation, 
we  shall  find  that  they  properly  belong  to  two  main 
classes ;  those  who  do  not  and  those  who  do  till  the 
ground. 

If  some  civilized  men  were  cast,  without  any  product 
of  art,  on  an  uninhabited  island  similar  in  its  geological, 
botanical,  and  zoological  features  to  Great  Britain,  the 
tool  for  which  they  would  first  feel  an  urgent  want  would 
be  a  knife,  and  the  material  of  which  they  would  first 
make  it  would  probably  be  the  shell  of  a  mollusk  or 
the  bone  of  a  mammal,  either  of  which  they  could  find 
without  long  search.  The  bone  would  be  better  in  its 
form,  the  shell  in  its  hardness.  As  these  materials  would 
furnish  the  first  knives  to  civilized  men,  under  the  cir- 
cumstances supposed,  so  they  presumably  supplied  the 
first  to  primitive  men. 

But  after  a  time,  those  savages  discovered  that  various 
kinds  of  stone  could  be  shaped  into  knives  with  less  labor, 
or  would  take  a  sharper  or  harder  edge  and  a  more  con- 
venient form,  than  shell  or  bone.  Many  centuries  elapsed, 
perhaps,  before  it  was  found  that  from  a  rough  c}'l- 
inder  of  flint,  chert  or  obsidian,  eight  inches  long  and  six 
inches  thick,  a  hundred  knives  as  long  as  the  block  and 
an  inch  and  a  half  wide,  with  a  sharp  edge  on  each  side, 
could  be  split  off  in  half  an  hour  by  one  man.  Some 
flakes  were  shaped  into  chisels,  awls,  borers,  scrapers, 
arrowheads,  and  spear-heads ;  and  when  the  lump  was 
too  small  for  splitting  again,  it  was  made  into  an  axe.' 

Obsidian  made  the  sharpest  but  least  durable  of  the 
flake  knives,  the  material  being  much  more  brittle  than 
flint.  Flake  razors  of  obsidian  were  used  by  Aztec  bar- 
bers, but  a  dozen  were  sometimes  ruined  in  shaving  one 
man,     Flint  and  chert  were  at  first  obtained  for  knives 


54  A    HISTORY   OF    MANKIND. 

from  loose  lumps  found  on  the  surface  of  the  ground  or 
in  the  beds  of  streams  ;  but  at  a  later  time  were  dug 
from  quarries."''  Flake  knives  were  never  polished,  even 
after  the  custom  of  polishing  stone  chisels  and  axes  was 
well  established. 

Sec.  22.  Tilling  Savagisui. — The  introduction  of  till- 
age had  an  immense  influence  on  savage  culture.  It 
gave  an  increased  stock,  and  a  regular  supply  of  food, 
and  a  permanent  home  ;  it  led  to  an  increased  density  of 
population ;  it  accumulated  property  and  furnished  men 
to  defend  it ;  it  made  a  demand  for  systematic  and  divided 
labor.  It  served  as  a  foundation  for  many  other  indus- 
trial arts.  If  it  did  not  give  birth  to  canoe  building,  pot- 
tery, weaving,  stone  polishing,  and  the  breeding  of  do- 
mestic animals,  it  at  least  furnished  the  means  and 
motives  under  which  they  reached  their  highest  develop- 
ment in  savage  culture. 

Whether  men  tilled  the  ground  before  they  polished 
stone  is  doubtful,  but  the  two  arts  were  not  far  apart  in 
the  time  of  their  origin.  The  first  stone  tools  to  be  pol- 
ished were  perhaps  chisels,  and  after  them  may  have 
come  axe  heads.  Unlike  knives,  the^e  could  not  be  flaked 
off  by  a  single  blow  or  one  movement  of  pressure,  nor 
could  a  satisfactory  edge  be  given  to  them  by  fracture; 
nor  was  the  amount  of  stone  so  small  that  it  could  be 
thrown  away  with  indifference.  It  was  easier  to  make  a 
new  knife  of  obsidian  or  flint  than  to  sharpen  an  old  one; 
not  so  with  an  axe  head  or  a  large  chisel.  The  flake 
knives  were  thin  and  at  their  edges  brittle,  and  therefore 
soon  worn  out.  But  the  axe  was  relatively  thick  and 
blunt,  and  could  be  made  of  hard,  tough  stone  that  would 
not  flake  off  into  knives.  The  stone  axe  head  was  a 
notable  contribution  to  savage  culture.     On  account  of 


SEC.    22.    TILLING   SAVAGISM.  55 

its  weight,  it  could  be  used  in  a  blow  with  considerable 
momentum.  Although  a  poor  implement  for  cutting 
wood,  it  was  through  a  long  era  the  best  obtainable,  and 
in  the  process  of  making  clubs,  canoes,  poles  and  spears, 
was  especially  serviceable  in  clearing  away  coal  and  half- 
burned  wood. 

The  perforations  in  axe  heads  for  the  handles,  were 
made  by  dropping  water  on  the  hot  stone  in  some  cases, 
in  others  by  hammering  and  grinding.  The  battle-axes 
of  the  aborigines  of  New  Britian  were  made  in  the  former 
manner.  By  attaching  a  handle  to  it,  the  axe  head  was 
conv^erted  into  an  axe,  with  an  important  addition  to  its 
impetus  and  efficiency,  and  by  turning  the  edge  in  an- 
other direction,  it  could  be  changed  into  an  adze. 

Many  writers  have  accepted  the  idea  that  pasturage 
precedes  tillage  in  the  development  of  culture,  but  they 
produce  no  proof,  and  the  best  direct  evidence,  that  of 
the  Redmen,  is  against  them.  In  the  basin  of  the  Missis- 
sippi we  find  great  numbers  of  large  indigenous  rumi- 
nants— buffalo,  elk,  deer,  antelope  and  goat — animals  well 
fitted  by  nature  for  domestication,  in  the  midst  of  tilling 
savages,  who  never  domesticate  them.  An  early  Spanish 
writer,  Gomara,  asserts  that  the  buffalo  was  tamed  on  the 
basin  of  the  Rio  Grande,  and  Alexander  Humboldt  men- 
tioned his  statement  as  perhaps  correct ;  but  it  lacks  con- 
firmation and  deserves  no  credence.  Pastoral  communi- 
ties are  usually  lower  in  culture  than  those  which  de- 
pend for  their  support  on  tillage ;  but  it  does  not  follow 
that  pasturage  is  the  earlier  occupation.  In  some  coun- 
ties, herds  are  considered  preferable  as  property  to  tilled 
fields,  because  they  can  be  driven  away  from  marauding 
enemies  or  because  they  are  better  adapted  to  a  dry 
climate  or  mountainous  surface,     In  many  extensive  re- 


56  A    HISTORY   OF    MANKIND. 

gions  tillage  has  preceded  pasturage ;  it  cannot  be  proved 
that  in  any  has  pasturage  preceded  tillage.  It  seems 
that  the  habits  of  economy  that  grew  up  with  thecultiva- 
vation  of  the  soil,  were  necessary  to  convert  pet  animals 
into  herds. 

Sec.  23.  Spear,  Bozv,  etc. — The  savage  tools  of  the 
chase  and  of  war,  distinctively  classed  as  weapons,  are 
the  inventions  of  long  experience  and  much  ingenuity. 
The  Kaffirs  and  many  Negro  and  Polynesian  tribes  take 
no  offensive  weapon  into  battle  save  the  spear,  which  on 
the  other  hand  is  not  used  by  the  Bushmen  and  had  an 
inferior  place  among  the  American  savages.  In  portions 
of  Polynesia  it  was  thrown  so  dexterously,  that  its  aim 
was  more  accurate  at  fifty  yards  than  that  of  the  musket 
in  the  hands  of  Cook's  sailors. 

Some  tribes  have  discovered  that  the  whirling  of 
a  spear  or  arrow  on  its  longitudinal  axis  corrects  the 
deflecting  influences  of  bends  and  unequal  weights  on  the 
sides.  The  whirl  is  given  by  a  twist  in  the  shaft,  in  the 
head,  or  in  feather  attachments,  or  by  an  unwinding  thong, 
which  last  serves  also,  as  if  it  were  a  prolongation  of  the 
arm,  to  give  additional  impetus.^  Instead  of  thongs, 
some  tribes  use  a  stick  two  feet  long,  or  a  stick  and 
thong  together,  all  of  which  devices  are  akin  to  slings  in 
their  influence  on  the  missile.^ 

The  common  sling  is  little  used  by  most  savage  tribes, 
but  is  a  favorite  with  the  Fuegians,  New  Caledonians  and 
Hawaiians.  The  New  Caledonians  give  an  acorn  shape 
to  their  sling  stones  as  the  ancient  Greeks  and  Romans 
did  to  their  leaden  sling  shots.^  Sling  balls  of  burned 
clay  were  made  by  the  tilling  prehistoric  Europeans, 
perhaps  for  the  purpose  of  throwing  them  red-hot  into 
the  huts  of  their  enemies,* 


SEC.    23.    SPEAR,    BOW,    ETC.  57 

The  thong-balls  or  bolas,  stone  balls  two  inches  and  a 
half  in  diameter,  fastened  together  in  couples  or  triplets, 
by  a  thong  about  six  feet  long  attached  to  each  ball,  are 
used  by  the  Patagonians,  Araucans  and  some  other  South 
Americans  with  much  effect  in  the  chase  of  the  guanaco, 
ostrich  and  horse,  being  thrown  so  as  to  tie  up  the  ani- 
mal's legs.  The  long  sling  and  considerable  weight  of 
the  balls  make  them  effective  at  a  distance  of  a  hun- 
dred yards.^  The  Eskimos  have  a  similar  implement 
called  the  birdsling,  consisting  of  six  or  seven  oval 
weights,  an  inch  long  and  half  an  inch  thick,  each 
attached  to  a  cord  thirty  inches  long,  all  the  cords  being 
fastened  together  at  the  other  end.  These  birdslings  tie 
up  the  wings  of  geese  and  ducks  as  the  bolas  tie  up  the 
legs  of  South  American  game. 

The  combination  of  strength  with  elasticity  required  for 
the  bow  is  not  found  in  the  timber  of  some  regions,  and 
there  bows  are  not  made,  or  the  wood  is  brought  from 
other  places.  Most  of  the  savage  bows  are  of  the  ordi- 
nary size  and  pattern,  but  some  in  the  valley  of  the 
Parana  are  so  large  that  the  Indian  when  he  shoots  lies 
down,  and  uses  both  feet  and  both  hands  in  shooting 
heavy  arrows  headed  with  burning  cotton  to  set  fire  to 
the  enemy's  huts.  The  Veddahs  of  Ceylon  have  bows 
which  they  stretch  in  the  same  way.  The  cross-bow 
is  known  to  few  savages,  but  the  Fans  have  it.  The 
Abipones  have  a  bow  with  a  cup  in  the  cord  to  throw  a 
bullet  an  inch  and  a  half  in  diameter." 

The  bow  is  not  used  by  the  Australians,  Tasmani- 
ans,  Kaffirs,  Dinkas,  aboriginal  Cubans,  Jamaicans  or 
Pampas.  In  most  of  Polynesia,  it  is  a  plaything  for 
boys,  not  a  weapon  for  men.  The  Redmen,  Bushmen  and 
some  negro  tribes  use  it  more  than  the  spear. 


58  A    HISTORY   OF   MANKIND, 

Small  arrows  eight  inches  long  are  thrown  through 
blow-tubes,  ordinarily  for  killing  game  and  on  rare  occa- 
sions for  war,  in  Malaysia,  Melanesia,  Brazil,  Paraguay, 
the  valley  of  the  Orinoco,  Mexico,  Central  America, 
Chile  and  Peru.  The  tube  is  about  eight  feet  long  and 
has  a  caliber  of  a  quarter  of  an  inch.  The  utmost  range 
is  forty  yards,  and  there  is  little  accuracy  of  aim  beyond 
twenty.  The  blow-tube  arrow  is  tipped  with  virulent 
poison,  so  that  a  very  small  quantity  of  it  will  quickly 
prove  fatal  to  a  large  quadruped. 

Poisoned  arrows  are  thrown  from  the  bow  by  the 
Bushmen,  Bechuanas,  Congoese,  Kordofanese,  Fans,  An- 
damanese,  Ajitas,  Melanesians,  Malays,  Floridians,  Pimos, 
and  Californians.  Poisoned  stakes  and  spears  are  set  in 
paths  for  enemies  and  game  of  Bushmen  and  Hottentots. 

Poison,  on  the  point  of  the  spear  or  arrow,  though 
most  frequently  used  in  the  chase,  is  also  employed  in 
war  by  many  tribes.  Creases  in  the  head  of  the  weapon 
protect  the  venom  against  loss  by  rubbing,  without  pre- 
venting its  solution  in  the  warm  blood.  The  poisons  are 
taken  from  many  sources,  including  serpents,  insects, 
and  the  seeds  and  juices  of  plants.  One  of  the  simplest 
methods  of  obtaining  arrow  poison  is  that  of  certain  Cal- 
ifornian  tribes,  which  irritate  rattlesnakes  with  a  deer's 
liver  until  they  bite  it  repeatedly,  throwing  their  venom 
into  it  every  time.  This  liver  is  allowed  to  putrefy,  and 
then  the  arrowhead  is  thrust  into  it.  All  poisons  used 
for  killing  game  are  of  kinds  fatal  in  the  blood  but  not  in 
the  stomach ;  yet  the  part  struck  by  the  weapon  is  usu- 
ally thrown  away. 

Sec.  24.  Clubs,  etc. — Clubs  are  of  many  kinds,  heavy 
or  light,  long  or  short,  to  be  kept  in  the  hand  or  to  be 
thrown,   and   made  of  wood,   bone,   or  stone.     Heavy 


SEC.    24.    CLUBS,    ETC.  59 

clubs  are  used  mainly  in  war;  the  lighter  ones  in  the 
chase.  A  long,  heavy  club  is  carried  by  many  Polyne- 
sian nobles  as  a  symbol  of  their  rank,  on  all  ceremonial 
occasions. 

The  characteristic  weapon  of  New  Zealand  is  the  merai 
or  patoopatoo,  eighteen  inches  long,  five  inches  wide  in 
the  blade  which  is  shaped  like  a  beaver's  tail,  and  two 
inches  thick  in  the  handle,  tapering  to  half  an  inch  at  the 
point  of  the  blade.  A  cord  at  the  end  of  the  handle 
slips  over  the  wrist  to  prevent  loss.  The  preferred 
material  is  jade,  though  to  shape  and  polish  it  without 
metal  requires  the  labor  of  months.^  Sometimes  it  is 
made  of  a  bone  of  a  whale.  The  Quichuans  made  a  like 
weapon  of  brown  jasper. 

The  kerry,  the  chief  weapon  of  the  Quaiquai  Hotten- 
tot, with  a  stem  about  three  feet  long  and  a  round  knob, 
nearly  three  inches  in  diameter  at  the  end,"*  is  thrown 
with  much  effect  in  the  chase.  The  rackum,  a  club  a 
foot  long  with  pointed  ends,  is  used  for  the  same  purpose 
by  the  same  tribe.  A  throw-club  of  the  Parana  valley 
is  two  feet  long  and  thicker  at  the  ends  than  in  the  mid- 
dle. The  Fannese  have  stone  throw-clubs,  a  foot  long, 
pointed  at  both  ends,  and  two  inches  wide  and  an  inch 
thick  in  the  middle. 

Neither  the  sword  nor  any  weapon  similar  to  it  in 
form  and  methotl  of  use,  is  known  to  the  non-tilling  sav- 
ages. Its  vahie  in  war  does  not  become  evident  until 
warriors  learn  to  charge  in  compact  masses.  Then  long 
flat  stones,  and  bones  witli  sharp  edges,  and  clubs  into 
which  sharks  teeth  and  thin  pieces  of  bone,  stone  or 
shell  are  fastened,  become  weapons  similar  to  swords. 

The  boomerang  is  a  flat  or  flattish  crooked  throw-club, 
about  thirty  inches  long,  with  two  arms  of  equal  or  un- 


6o  A    HISTORY    OF    MANKIND, 

equal  length,  uniting  at  an  angle  varying  from  ninety  to 
one  hundred  and  seventy  degrees.  The  width  may  be 
two  inches  and  the  thickness  half  or  three-quarters  of  an 
inch.  One  side  is  usually  flat,  and  the  other  curved  or 
beveled  to  the  edge.  Held  by  the  longer  arm,  if  one  be 
longer  than  the  other,  with  the  flat  side  down,  and 
thrown  with  much  force,  it  flies  away  whirling  round 
on  its  corner,  as  a  center  of  rotation,  resembling  in  its 
motions  the  flight  of  a  dodging  bird,  usually  pursuing  a 
curved  course,  now  going  nearly  straight,  then  turning 
short  corners,  and  sometimes  coming  back  and  falling  to 
the  ground  very  near  the  point  from  which  it  is  thrown. 
The  principles  involved  in  the  movement  of  this  weapon 
are  so  abstruse  that  they  have  never  been  explained  satis- 
factorily, and  of  course  they  were  never  understood  by 
savages.  No  two  boomerangs  take  exactly  the  same 
course,  even  when  thrown  at  the  same  angle  and  with 
the  same  power ;  and  it  is  impossible  for  anyone,  unless 
familiar  with  the  special  implement,  to  know  how  to 
avoid  it.  The  skillful  thrower  must  often  dodge  quickly 
to  escape  a  blow  from  its  return.  On  account  of 
its  winged  flight  and  the  impossibility  of  calculating  its 
course,  it  is  an  effective  weapon  for  striking  flocks  of 
birds  in  the  air.  The  boomerang  is  the  characteristic 
throw-club  of  the  Australians;  and  a  crooked  throw-club 
is  also  known  to  the  Lower  Californians,^  the  Moquis,* 
the  Soudanese,^  and  was  used  by  the  ancient  Egyptains,*' 
and  Assyrians.' 

Shields  are  made  of  wood,  or  of  wooden  frames  cov- 
ered with  hide.  Lengths  vary  from  two  to  six  feet ;  and 
widths  from  five  to  twenty-four  inches.  Some  long  New 
Guinea  shields  have  sharp  points  suitable  for  inflicting  a 
fatal  wound  on  a  prostrate  enemy.     The  very  light  shield 


SEC.    25.    OMNIVOROUS.  6 1 

ma)^  be  used  either  to  stop  the  approaching  weapon  or 
to  touch  it  and  divert  its  course. 

Generally  savages  wear  no  defensive  armor  fastened 
to  the  body,  but  the  New  Zealanders  and  some  Africans 
have  coats  of  thick  matting  or  padding,  and  the  Haidahs 
have  breastplates  of  twigs  interwoven  with  rawhide. 

Sec.  25.  Omnivorous. — Man  is  the  distinctively  om- 
nivorous animal.  His  dentition,  his  palate,  and  his  di- 
gestive organs  prepare  him  to  eat  all  those  animals  and 
plants  which  contain  much  starch,  sugar  or  albumen, 
without  poison.  Lean  meat,  fat,  gristle,  skin,  grain,  fruit, 
legume,  tuber,  nut,  bark  and  insects  are  all  welcome  to 
his  stomach.  The  nitrogenous  character  of  grain  and 
lean  meat  make  them  indispensable  to  his  high  develop- 
ment ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  his  digestiv'e  organs  have 
not  the  large  size  and  peculiar  form  suitable  to  deriv^e 
great  activity  from  a  diet  consisting  exclusively  of  fruit 
or  grass.  He  must  have  grain  or  meat,  and  since  the 
former  could  not  be  obtained  in  regular  supply  by  sav- 
ages, meat  was  necessary  for  them,  and  until  population 
became  dense,  and  game  scarce,  they  always  had  it.  In 
every  clime,  in  e\-ery  continent,  and  in  every  grade  of 
culture  his  preferred  food  is  supplied  by  the  animal  king- 
dom; and  not  satisfied  with  the  meat  of  brutes,  many 
.savage  tribes  have  delighted  in  feasts  on  the  flesh  of 
their  own  species.  By  his  mental  and  physical  capaci- 
ties, man  is  impelled  to  attack  and  enabled  to  slay  the 
most  ferocious  carnivores  and  the  largest  pachyderms. 
He  .strikes  the  bird  in  the  air  and  the  fish  in  the  water; 
he  takes  the  rabbit  in  its  burrow,  the  seal  on  the  ice,  and 
the  whale  in  the  open  sea.  Against  his  attack  neither 
the  shell  of  the  moUusk,  the  quill  of  the  porcupine,  nor 
the  venom    of  the  rattlesnake    gives  secure   protection. 


62  A   HISTORY   OF   MANltl^fD. 

The  excitement  of  the  chase  is  one  of  his  greatest  pleas- 
ures, and  it  increases  with  the  activity  and  defensive 
power  of  the  game. 

In  many  countries  where  there  is  Httle  division  of 
labor,  and  no  systematic  exchange  of  products  between 
different  regions,  the  people  must  derive  their  food  from 
local  and  often  from  indigenous  products,  and  may  be 
limited  for  a  considerable  part  of  the  year  to  a  single  ar- 
ticle, such  as  the  seal  in  arctic  America,  the  salmon  on 
the  banks  of  the  Columbia,  the  buffalo  in  the  basin  of  the 
Missouri,  the  lichen  in  Iceland,  taro,  breadfruit,  or  pan- 
danus  fruit  in  portions  of  Polynesia  and  Micronesia,  cas- 
sava in  some,  and  yucca  in  other  parts  of  South  America, 
sago  in  Malaysia,  shell-fish  in  many  sea-coasts,  reindeer 
in  subarctic  lands,  cow's  milk  in  some  African,  and 
mare's  milk,  or  buffalo's  milk,  or  camel's  milk  in  some 
Asiatic  districts.  Uniformity  of  diet  becomes  offensive 
to  palate  and  stomach,  and  makes  a  demand  for  many  fla- 
voring substances  that  are  offensive  to  the  civilized  man 
who  is  accustomed  to  a  considerable  variety  of  food  in 
every  season.  After  having  eaten  nothing  but  blubber 
and  oil  for  months,  the  Eskimo  becomes  hungry  for 
meat,  as  the  Gaucho,  after  an  exclusive  diet  of  lean  meat, 
longs  for  fat,  and  the  negro,  who  has  tasted  nothing  save 
fruit  for  months,  has  an  extreme  craving  for  animal  food. 

Sec.  26.  Bread  and  Meat. — Many  savage  tribes  make 
bread  of  acorns  or  seeds,  but  none  have  made  their 
loaves  light  by  leaven,  unless  they  had  learned  the  art  of 
bread-making  from  people  in  a  higher  stage  of  culture. 
Cakes  are  made  from  cassava  by  the  aborigines  of  the 
Amazon  and  Orinoco,  and  from  pine  tree  moss  in  sea- 
sons of  scarcity,  by  those  of  the  Upper  Columbia. 

East  of  the  Mississippi,  maize  is  eaten  in  the  green  ear, 


sEc.  26.  Bread  and  meat.  63 

roasted  or  boiled  ;  in  succotash,  a  mixture  of  the  grain 
in  the  milk  cut  from  the  ear  and  boiled  with  beans  ;  in 
mush,  in  hominy  and  in  bread.  Many  different  flavors 
are  used,  including  maple  syrup,  walnut  oil,  hickory  milk, 
and  bear's  fat.  Hickory  milk,  made  by  mashing  hick- 
ory nuts  and  mixing  with  water,  is  added  to  the  dough 
intended  for  bread,  and  also  to  mush  and  homin\\^ 
Maize  meal  is  made  either  from  the  ripe  grain  or  from 
that  cooked  in  the  milk,  dried  and  pulverized  in  a  mor- 
tar. Concha,  a  mixture  of  roasted  maize  and  lime  pre- 
pared by  the  Indians  of  the  Amazon,  is  by  Herndon 
praised  as  superior  in  flavor  to  green  maize  roasted. 
Mushrooms  are  a  staple  article  of  diet  among  the  Fue- 
gians,  and  the  fern  root  among  the  Ahts  of  Vancouver 
Island  and  the  Maoris.  The  Indians  of  California  like  to 
have  their  wild  lettuce  flavored  by  the  acidulous  secre- 
tion from  the  bodies  of  red  ants.  They  lay  the  vegeta- 
ble where  the  insect  will  run  over  it,  or  they  pound  an 
ant's  nest,  and  when  the  irritated  inmates  come  to  the 
surface,  hold  the  lettuce  over  them  and  the  liquid  is 
thrown  upon  it. 

Meat  and  fish  are  often  eaten  raw.  The  liver  of  the 
deer  and  the  antelope,  and  the  marrow  of  the  elephant, 
fresh  from  the  carcase,  and  still  warm  with  the  heat  of 
life,  are  delicacies  to  many  white  hunters,  as  to  all  savages 
familiar  with  them.  In  Abyssinia  there  are  feasts  in 
which  the  chief  dish  is  raw  beef,  cut  from  a  cow  tied  at 
the  door. 

By  savages  generally,  blood  as  it  flows  from  the  living 
quadruped  or  bird  is  considered  a  delicious  beverage. 
In  many  countries  the  preferred  method  of  killing  an 
animal  is  to  cut  its  throat  so  that  the  blood  shall  flow 
about  as  fast  as  a  man  can  drink,  and  then  apply  the 


64  A   HISTORY   OF   MANKIND. 

mouth  to  the  wound.  The  Gallas  and  some  other  Afri- 
cans open  veins  in  the  necks  of  their  cows,  and,  after 
sucking  as  much  blood  as  they  wish,  sew  up  the  cut. 
Other  tribes  bleed  their  herds  into  buckets,  at  regfular 
periods,  and  drink  the  blood  mixed  with  milk. 

After  killing  an  ostrich,  the  Bushman  turns  the  blood 
from  its  carotid  artery  into  its  crop,  the  contents  of  which 
are  eaten  while  still  warm,  after  they  have  been  mixed 
by  rolling  the  body  from  side  to  side.  The  Araucan 
hangs  up  a  live  sheep  by  its  forelegs,  cuts  its  carotid  ar- 
tery, which  he  turns  into  the  windpipe,  and  after  the 
lungs  have  thus  been  filled  with  blood,  flavors  them  with 
salt  and  pepper,  and  eats  them  raw  and  warm  with  the 
heat  of  life. 

Sec.  27.  Dai)iti)icss. — The  savage  eats  all  the  accessi- 
ble kinds  of  food  which  are  used  on  the  tables  of  civili- 
zation, and  many  others.  Being  unable  to  command  a 
constant  supply  of  clean  and  fresh  provisions,  he  has  oc- 
casionally accepted  filth  and  putridity,  until,  by  custom 
and  inheritance,  they  have  become  welcome  to  his  eyes, 
nose  and  palate,  and  in  some  cases  he  has  even  learned 
to  prefer  them.  Many  of  the  Pacific  islanders  are  in  the 
habit  of  burying  cooked  breadfruit,  taro,  sweet  potatoes, 
and  other  vegetables,  and  thus  keeping  them  for  months, 
to  be  eaten  after  passing  the  sour  stage  of  fermentation. 
The  Otomacs  of  South  America  keep  their  beans  in  a 
similar  manner.  A  preparation  made  from  the  decom- 
posed Afiti  fruit,  is  a  favorite  sauce  in  Dahomey.  In 
subarctic  countries,  in  portions  of  Africa  and  in  the 
Solomon  Islands,  meat  enclosed  in  sealskins  is  kept  for  a 
year  underground,  and  when  far  advanced  in  decomposi- 
tion, is  eaten  with  relish.^  By  many  tribes,  monkeys, 
opossums,  ducks,  pigeons  and  other  birds  and  quadru- 


SEC.    28.    SALT    AND    CLAY.  65 

peds  are  cooked  and  eaten  with  their  entrails.  A  favor- 
ite chowder  of  the  Phihppine  Islands  is  made  by  boiling 
the  material  from  a  goat's  stomach  with  fish.  The  green 
matter  found  in  the  intestines  of  large  ruminants  below 
the  stomach  is  used  as  a  sauce,  and  the  half  digested 
herbage  from  the  paunch  of  an  ox  is  a  delicacy  to  a 
Bongo,  as  that  from  a  sheep's  stomach  is  to  an  Abys- 
sinian, and  that  from  a  reindeer's  stomach  to  a  Chook- 
chee  or  a  Lapp. 

By  the  savage,  as  by  the  carnivorous  quadruped,  the 
entrails  are  eaten  in  preference  to  the  muscular  fibre,  and 
are  the  first  to  be  consumed  when,  in  hunger,  he  obtains 
possession  of  a  carcass.  The  large  intestine,  just  below 
the  stomach,  is  to  him  the  choice  part  of  an  herbivorous 
animal,  and  after  it  has  been  once  pressed  out  rapidly 
between  the  fingers,  is  eaten  without  washing.  A  small 
portion  of  the  green  matter  improves  the  flavor ;  and  the 
same  material  with  gall,  is  used  by  the  Abyssinians  as  a 
sauce  upon  bits  of  the  raw  stomach  and  raw  liver  of  the 
ox  mixed  together. 

Earthworms,  slugs,  caterpillers,  larvae,  dragonflies,  bee- 
tles, moths,  ants,  parasitic  insects  from  the  human  head 
and  body,  spiders  and  maggots  all  contribute  to  the  sav- 
age bill  of  fare.  Near  Moorzuk,  on  the  northern  edge  of 
the  Sahara,  a  species  of  worm  is  prized  as  an  appetizer  ;  at 
Nyassa,  gnats  are  pressed  into  cakes  to  be  used  as  a  relish  ; 
and  in  South  Africa,  the  Waiyari  eat  cakes  made  of  an 
insect  similar  in  appearance  to  a  tick.  In  Manyuema, 
swarming  ants  are  cleansed  of  their  wings  and  legs  by 
fire  and  then  eaten.  White  ants  are  a  relish  in  East 
Africa ;  and  the  Monbuttoos  make  a  fat  for  the  table  from 
the  male  termites. 

Sec.  28.  Salt  and  Clay. — A  demand  for  salt,  being  a  re- 
5 


66  A   HISTORY  O?   MANtCtND. 

suit  of  a  vegetable  diet,  is  not  found  among  the  Eskimos, 
Gauchos  and  many  Malay,  Papuan,  African  and  North 
American  tribes.  In  portions  of  Africa  and  Malaysia, 
the  ashes  of  saline  plants  are  used  directly  as  a  substi- 
tute for  salt  or  are  leached  out  and  the  salt  obtained  by 
evaporation.  Many  Polynesian  and  Melanesian  tribes, 
when  eating  raw  fish  dip  them  into  sea  water,  to  get  the 
saline  flavor. 

Clay,  red  ochre,  pulverized  soapstone  and  other  kinds 
of  earthy  matter  are  eaten  as  part  of  their  ordinary  diet 
by  savages  in  every  quarter  of  the  globe.  Some  tribes 
eat  clay  only  when  they  have  little  or  no  nutritious  food 
or  when  having  none  save  meat,  they  need  something 
else  to  distend  the  stomach.  When  going  far  to  sea,  the 
Dyaks  take  along  red  ochre  to  eat  if  they  should  catch 
no  fish.  Edible  clay  is  sold  in  the  markets  of  Java.  The 
Otomacs  mix  an  unctuous  clay  with  other  food  ;^  in  Gam- 
bia a  clay,  with  a  piquant  odor,  is  eaten  with  rice  ;  and  in 
Brazil  a  saline  clay  serves  as  a  substitute  for  salt.  Quids 
of  clay  are  chewed  by  the  Wanyamwuezi,  and  quids  of 
clay  mixed  with  ashes  by  the  Somali. 

Sec.  29.  Cannibalisjii. — Cannibalism  prevails  exten- 
sively among  savages,  so  extensively  that  Andree  calls 
it  one  of  the  characteristic  diseases  of  the  childhood  of 
our  race.  There  are  four  kinds :  the  starving,  the  mili- 
tary, the  ecclesiastical  and  the  gourmand.  The  cannibal- 
ism of  starvation  is  found  in  the  highest  as  well  as  in  the 
lowest  grade  of  culture.  Military  cannibalism  is  the  eat- 
ing of  a  small  part  of  his  slain  enemy  by  the  successful 
warrior,  either  as  an  expression  of  hatred,  as  a  method 
of  appropriating  the  victim's  courage,  or  as  a  protection 
against  the  persecution  of  the  victim's  spirit  which  is  for- 
ever destroyed  when  his  heart,  his  eye  or  his  brain  is 


SEC.    29.    CANNIBALISM.  6/ 

eaten.  In  cases  of  great  animosity,  slices  of  flesh  are  cut 
from  the  body  of  the  liv'e  prisoner  and  consumed  raw  and 
warm  before  his  eyes,  while  he  is  taunted  and  his  tribe 
cursed  by  the  captors.  We  have  accounts  of  such  tor- 
tures by  Fijians,^  Tonkaways,''  Apaches*  and  Batta  Ma- 
lays.* 

Ecclesiastical  cannibalism  requires  priest  or  people  to 
eat  part  of  the  human  victim  sacrificed  to  the  gods,  and 
induces  the  family  to  eat  the  body  of  their  relative, 
whether  parent  or  child,  brother  or  sister,  who  has  died 
naturally.  The  Tarianos  and  Tucanos  of  South  America 
bury  their  dead  friends,  after  several  months  dig  them 
up,  dry  the  decomposed  flesh  over  a  fire,  pulverize  it 
and  mix  it  with  their  drink.  The  Australians  near 
Carpenteria  Bay  eat  the  warriors  of  their  own  tribe  slain 
in  battle,  but  do  not  taste  the  corpses  of  their  enemies. 

Gourmand  cannibalism,  the  eating  of  human  flesh  as 
an  article  of  ordinary  diet  when  other  food  is  abundant, 
prevails  among  the  Melanesians  generally,  the  Maoris,  the 
Marquesans,  the  Botocudos,  the  Tupis,  the  Caribs,  the 
Fans,  the  Niamniams,  the  Monbuttoos,  the  Mandingoes 
and  the  Bonny  negroes.  Its  existence  in  prehistoric 
Europe  is  proved  by  the  finding  of  human  bones  cracked 
for  their  marrow  in  the  caves  of  France,  Spain,  Portugal, 
Italy,  Belgium  and  Germany.  The  threat  to  "  eat  up  "  an 
enemy  common  in  many  African,  American,  and  Polyne- 
sian tribes  which  have  not  been  cannibals  in  modern 
times,  is  doubtless  an  inheritance  from  cannibal  ancestors. 
Human  sacrifices  as  a  part  of  worship  is  a  survival  of 
gourmand  cannibalism.  That  meat  which  was  most 
palatable  and  most  honorable  in  the  feasts  of  men 
must  also  be  given  to  the  gods ;  and  the  wide  prevalence 
of  such  sacrifices  is  one  of  the  most  striking  proofs  of 


68  A    HISTORY    OF    MANKIND. 

the  equally  wide  existence  of  the  custom  out  of  which 
they  grew."*  The  name  of  the  Atacapa  tribe  in  Louisiana, 
of  the  Mohawk  in  New  York,  of  the  Puru  in  South 
America,  and  of  the  Windigo  clan  of  the  Chippeways 
near  Lake  Superior,  all  mean  man-eater. 

The  Fijians  carry  gourmand  cannibalism  to  its  high- 
est development.  They  call  human  flesh  "long  pig;" 
they  use  special  and  sacred  forks  for  lifting  it ;  and  one 
chief  among  them  had  the  credit  of  having  eaten  por- 
tions of  nine  hundred  persons.  At  one  Fijian  feast,  two 
hundred  human  victims  were  eaten  ;  at  another  twenty- 
eight  captives,  after  being  stunned,  were  thrown  into  an 
oven  to  be  roasted  alive.  At  one  New  Zealand  festival 
after  a  great  battle,  more  than  a  thousand  captives  were 
cooked  and  eaten.  The  Tupis  and  some  Congoese  fatten 
prisoners  before  killing  them ;  the  Tupinamboos  breed 
them  for  the  shambles,  and  eat  the  children  of  male 
slaves  by  free  women  of  their  own  tribe  or  village. 
Human  fat  and  flesh  are  offered  for  sale  in  the  Niamniam 
villages,  and  human  flesh  is  dried  for  future  use  by  the 
Caribs,  Monbuttoos  and  some  Melanesians. 

All  savage  tribes,  accustomed  to  cannibalism,  consider 
human  flesh  a  delicacy.  The  highest  chiefs  and  most 
active  warriors  eat  most  of  it ;  the  very  old  men  and  boys 
get  a  little ;  the  women  none.  In  Equatorial  Africa,  as 
in  New  Caledonia,  the  palms  of  the  hands  are  considered 
the  most  delicious  morsels,  and  in  the  latter  country  are 
reserved  for  the  priests  who,  there  as  elsewhere,  demand 
and  often  obtain  the  best.  The  thigh  of  the  man  and  the 
breast  of  the  woman  are  preferred  in  New  Britain  f  the 
arm  above  the  elbow  and  the  thigh,  in  Fiji.'  In  New 
Ireland  men  are  baked  in  covered  pits  for  three  days,  and 
then  to  use  a  native  expression,  become  as  "  tender  as 


SEC.    29.    CANNIBALISM.  69 

grease."  The  brains  are  mixed  with  sago  and  cocoa-nut 
for  the  feast.^ 

A  peculiar  cannibal  custom  exists  in  parts  of  western 
Australia  where  the  bunyabunya  grows.  About  once  in 
three  years  the  trees  bear  an  abundant  crop  of  fruit,  much 
more  than  the  tribes  occupying  those  districts  can  con- 
sume. They  allow  friendly  tribes  in  the  vicinity  to  share 
their  fruit  harvest,  subject  to  the  condition  that  every 
outside  tribe  while  staying  in  their  domain  shall  kill  one 
of  their  own  number,  as  proof  that  they  are  not  destroy- 
ing any  of  the  quadrupeds,  birds  or  insects  of  the  district, 
and  thus  diminishing  the  local  stock  of  animal  food, 
which  is  not  offered  to  the  strangers,  as  there  is  not 
more  than  enough  for  home  consumption.' 

The  tribes  noted  for  cannibalism,  generally  bury  their 
dead  relatives  with  respectful  ceremony,  and  depend 
for  their  supply  of  human  flesh  exclusively  upon  enemies, 
slaves  or  strangers.  In  some  regions,  however,  any  per- 
son not  belonging  to  the  same  clan  or  village  may  be 
eaten.  Thus  the  Fans  and  Wabembe  sell  the  corpses  of 
their  friends  who  die  a  natural  death  to  the  people  of  the 
next  village,  where  they  may  be  eaten  without  offense. 
The  Fans,  Vateans,  Fannese  and  Fijians,  not  content 
with  eating  fresh  corpses  of  those  who  die  a  natural 
death,  occasionally  feast  on  bodies  after  they  had  been 
buried  for  several  days. 

Cannibalism  when  practiced  extensively  is  an  indica- 
tion of  superior  activity  and  courage,  and  is  most  com- 
mon in  tribes  which  are  far  from  the  lowest  phases  of 
savagism.  The  Bushmen,  Andamanese,  Australians  gen- 
erally and  aborigines  of  Lower  California  are  not  noted 
for  fondness  for  human  flesh,  though  some  of  them 
taste  it  occasionally.     Among  the  islanders  of  the  Pacific, 


70  A    HISTORY   OF    MANKIND. 

the  Fijians  and  Maoris  are  distinguished  as  cannibals  and 
warriors  ;  so  are  the  Fans,  Niamniams  and  Monbuttoos 
in  Africa.  It  would  be  impossible  for  poor  fighters  to 
obtain  large  supplies  of  human  flesh.  Habitual  success 
in  war  implies  energy  in  industrial  occupations  and  com- 
pactness in  political  organization,  and  these  are  to  be 
found  among  the  most  noted  cannibal  tribes  as  compared 
with  their  neighbors  generally. 

Sec.  30.  Cooking. — Man  is  a  cooking  animal.  Every 
tribe  known  to  modern  observers  prepares  some  of  its 
food  with  fire.  Broiling,  the  simplest  method  of  cooking 
processes,  is  rarely  practiced  in  many  countries  and  is 
impossible  in  the  snow  hut  of  the  Eskimos,  where  the 
only  artificial  heat  is  that  of  a  small,  smoky  lamp,  which 
could  not  be  used  for  any  method  of  cooking  save  boil- 
ing. Tradition  says  that  Mohammed  prohibited  the 
singeing  of  meat  by  fire,  and  perhaps  for  this  reason, 
many  Arabs  and  some  negro  tribes  under  Arab  influence 
never  broil  or  fry  meat  or  bake  it  before  an  open  fire. 

Roasting  in  hot  ashes  or  under  coals,  was  perhaps  the 
second  cooking  process  in  the  order  of  its  discovery. 
Before  roasting  their  fish,  the  western  Australians  wrap 
it  in  aromatic  bark  which  gives  it  a  delicate  flavor.^  The 
Polynesians  bake  pigs,  dogs,  men,  taro  and  other  food  in 
pits  which  on  rare  occasions  may  be  eight  feet  deep  and 
fifteen  feet  in  diameter.  Red-hot  stones  at  bottom,  sides 
and  top  supply  the  heat;  which  is  retained  by  a  cov- 
ering of  earth,  and  the  baking  may  continue  from  two 
hours  to  three  days.'  The  Patagonians  cook  the  Ameri- 
can ostrich  in  the  open  air  by  putting  hot  stones  in  the 
cavity  of  the  body  after  the  entrails  have  been  taken  out.^ 
The  Danakils  of  Africa  cover  a  hen,  feathers  entrails  and 
all,  with  wet  clay,  and  put  the  lump  in  the  fire  to  cook.* 


SEC.    30.    COOKING.  71 

Among  the  Aleuts  meat  to  be  cooked  is  put  between  two 
concave  and  platter-like  stones,  the  joint  being  covered 
with  wet  clay,  before  the  vessel  is  put  in  the  fire.* 

Water  is  raised  to  the  boiling  point  for  cooking  pur- 
poses with  hot  stones  in  cocoa-nut  shells  by  the  Kings- 
mill  Islanders;®  in  gourd  shells  by  the  Georgia  Indians;  in 
birch  bark  pots  by  some  Missouri  tribes  ;^  in  wooden 
troughs  by  the  Kamtschatkans,  Columbia  River  and  Van- 
couver Island  tribes  ;  in  watertight  baskets  by  the  Hai- 
dahs,  Yukons,  Ostiaks  and  Californians  ;  in  skins  with 
the  hair  side  down  resting  in  earth  holes,  by  various 
North  American  tribes,  including  the  Assiniboins,  whose 
tribal  name  means  skin-boiler,  and  in  earth  holes  lined 
with  clay  by  the  Australians  of  the  lower  Murray  valley.^ 
The  Malays  sometimes  boil  their  food  in  a  joint  of  bam- 
boo, resting  with  its  closed  end  on  the  ground,  and  lean- 
ing over  the  fire  so  that  it  does  not  burn  through. 

All  the  methods  of  preserving  food  known  to  civilized 
men  are  represented  by  similar  processes  among  savages. 
The  latter  do  not  can  provisions,  but  they  cover  them 
with  mud,  coat  them  with  tallow  or  bury  them  in  the 
earth.  They  smoke,  salt,  and  freeze.  They  dry  fruits  in 
the  sun  and  meat  in  the  sun  or  over  fire.  They  boil, 
dry  and  pulverize  green  corn,  or  they  bake  it  in  pits  un- 
til it  loses  its  moisture  while  preserving  its  flavor.  The 
sap  of  the  cocoa  tree  is  boiled  into  a  syrup  by  the  Gilbert 
Islanders  and  by  some  Africans. 

Fish  are  dried,  beaten  into  a  powder  and  packed  away 
in  sacks  by  Columbia  River  Indians,  Kamtschatkans  and 
various  tribes  of  Africa  and  South  America.  It  is  said 
that  in  the  valley  of  the  Zambesi,  fish  is  preserved  for  years 
without  loss  of  its  wholesome  and  nutritious  qualities,  by 
covering  it  with  the  poisonous  juice  of  the  mandioca.^ 


72  A    HISTORY   OF   MANKIND. 

After  drying  the  meat  of  the  buffalo,  the  Redmen  pack 
it  in  a  bag  of  hide,  which  they  fill  with  melted  tallow. 
This  pemmican  keeps  more  than  a  year.'"  In  California 
grasshoppers  and  in  parts  of  Africa  grasshoppers  and 
winged  ants  are  singed,  cleansed  of  wings  and  legs  and 
mashed  into  cakes.  Locusts  are  treated  in  a  similar 
manner  by  Kaffirs. 

The  Redmen  east  of  the  Mississippi  dry  plums,  persim- 
mons, pumpkins,  green  corn,  deer  meat,  muscles,  oysters 
and  eels.  They  boil  the  sap  of  the  maple  tree  into  a 
syrup,  into  a  wax-like  candy,  and  into  crystallized  sugar. 
Near  Lake  Superior,  the  pulp  of  wild  plums  is  boiled 
with  maple  syrup  until  it  will  harden  when  cold,  and  is 
then  called  maple-plum-leather.^'  Plum  leather  is  made  by 
boiling  the  plum  pulp  without  syrup.  In  the  same  region, 
wild  cherries  are  boiled  down  to  a  cherry-butter  which  is 
buried  in  the  earth  for  winter  use.'"  Green  maize  is 
boiled,  dried  and  pulverized  by  the  Redmen  east  of  the 
Mississippi.  The  Chippeways  dry  whortleberries  and 
wild  roots  over  a  fire.'^  The  Californians  soak  their 
acorns  in  two  waters  to  take  out  their  bitterness  and  then 
dry  them.'*  Sweet  potatoes  are  dried  by  the  Maoris,  and 
ombova  leaves  by  the  Damaras. 

Many  fruits  and  tubers  which  are  poisonous  in  their 
natural  condition  are  converted  by  savage  art  into  whole- 
some food.  The  cassava  root  abounds  in  a  strong  poison, 
which  comes  out  when  the  fibre  has  been  rasped,  and 
freed  from  its  juice  by  pressing  and  boiling  in  two  waters. 
Of  all  the  tropical  tubers  it  is  the  most  extensively  used 
for  food.  The  discovery  of  the  method  of  fitting  it  for 
the  table,  and  the  invention  of  the  processes  of  rasping 
and  pressing  it,  do  much  credit  to  the  ingenuity  of  the 
South  American  Indians.'"     Among  the  other  poisonous 


SEC.    32.    GRINDING.  73 

or  acrid  vegetables  made  nutritious  by  savage  processes 
of  cooking  or  soaking,  are  an  African  yam,  the  Tangare 
bean  of  South  Africa,'"  the  karaka  berry  of  New  Zealand," 
the  arisarum  vulgare  root  of  Morocco,'^  a  tuber  of  Virginia 
and  another  of  Utah,  the  leaves  of  the  taro ;''  the  root  of 
the  ti,^°  the  soap  root  and  the  horse  chestnut  of  California, 
and  the  cycas  fruits  of  New  Guinea."'^ 

Sec.  31.  Meals. — In  most  savage  tribes,  it  is  the  cus- 
tom to  have  two  formal  meals  in  the  day,  the  breakfast 
in  the  middle  of  the  forenoon,  and  the  dinner  about 
sunset,  but  some  tribes  have  only  the  latter,  eating  at 
other  times  as  hunger  and  the  food  supply  may  suggest. 
Having  no  chairs,  tables,  tablecloths  or  plates,  their 
manners  at  meals  are  unceremonious.  The  men  eat  by 
themselves ;  the  women  and  children  afterwards.  If 
there  is  a  cooking  pot,  it  is  usually  left  on  the  fire  or 
near  it,  and  around  it  the  eaters  squat  or  sit  down.  With 
unwashed  hands  they  reach  in,  drag  out  the  meat,  and 
throw  it  back  after  cutting  off  a  portion  or  tearing  it  off 
with  their  teeth.  The  pot  and  the  cook  are  seldom 
washed.  Forks  are  used  with  human  flesh  in  Fiji,  and 
spoons  with  porridge  and  soup  by  the  Redmen,  but  are 
unknown  to  savages  generally.  Poi  or  taro  porridge, 
a  favorite  dish  in  Polynesia,  is  taken  from  the  bowl  by  a 
quick  turn  of  the  figures  and  then  held  over  the  open 
mouth  which  catches  the  drip.  According  to  its  thick- 
ness and  the  method  used  in  getting  a  mouthful,  the  dish 
is  called  two-finger  or  three-finger  poi. 

Sec.  32.  Grinding. — Seeds  and  nuts  are  crushed  or 
ground  for  bread  or  porridge  in  mortars  or  on  flat  stones. 
The  mortars  are  hollowed  out  in  loose  stones,  in  the  bed- 
rock where  it  appears  on  the  surface  of  the  earth,  or  in 
the  stumps  of  trees.     The  movable  stone  mortar  has  its 


74  A    HISTORY    OF    MANKIND. 

place  by  the  domestic  fire,  and  like  the  latter  is  under 
the  charge  of  the  woman,  and  adds  to  her  social  influence/ 
Numerous  half  oval  stones,  shaped  by  hand  by  prehis- 
toric savages,  were  presumably  used  for  crushing  seeds. '^ 
In  the  Soudan,  a  woman  grinds  in  one  day  as  much  grain 
as  a  man  can  eat  in  six  days.^ 

Sec.  33.  Water  and  Milk. — Although  many  tribes 
are  in  the  habit  of  preparing  fermented  liquors,  still  the 
common  beverage,  at  or  rather  after  meals,  for  while 
eating  they  rarely  drink,  is  water,  which  they  get  at 
some  adjacent  stream,  lifting  it  to  the  mouth  in  the  hollow 
of  the  hand,  bringing  the  face  down  to  its  level,  or  wad- 
ing in  and  flinging  it  into  the  mouth  by  a  rapid  motion 
of  the  fingers.  The  process  last  mentioned  is  common 
in  New  Caledonia  and  Kaffirland.^  In  some  arid  regions, 
savages  show  much  ingenuity  in  finding  and  storing 
water.  The  Bushmen  have  learned  that  they  can  suck 
up  water  through  a  reed  from  sand  several  feet  below  the 
surface,  where  there  is  so  little  moisture  that  if  a  well 
were  dug  no  water  would  collect  in  the  hole.  If  water 
is  wanted  for  future  use,  a  woman  fills  her  mouth,  the 
contents  of  which  are  then  allowed  to  trickle  down  a 
straw  into  a  small  hole  in  the  empty  shell  of  an  ostrich 
Qgg.  Such  shells  are  buried  at  marked  spots  on  a  long 
journey  in  a  desert,  for  use  on  the  return.^  Roots 
abounding  with  moisture  are  found  by  the  Kaffirs  with 
the  help  of  thirsty  tame  apes,  which,  led  about  by  a 
string,  hunt  for  the  scent  of  the  water-root  until  they  find 
it,  and  then  begin  to  dig,  whereupon  the  master  unearths 
the  prize  and  rewards  the  finder  v/ith  a  portion.*  Africa 
also  has  a  water  tree,  which  preserves  the  precious  fluid 
in  its  cavities  and  yields  it  up  to  the  experienced  traveler. 
Among   the   Eskimos  one   of   the   occupations    of  the 


SEC.  34.    BEER,    ETC.  -  75 

women  is  the  melting  of  snow  over  a  lamp,  to  furnish 
water  for  drinking  and  cooking.  Washing  is  a  rarity, 
and  when  that  operation  is  applied  to  the  face  another 
liquid  is  used. 

Modern  savages  have  no  milk-yielding  animals  save 
those  obtained  from  men  in  higher  conditions  of  culture. 
The  cows  and  goats  of  the  Africans  are  not  indigenous 
in  their  continent,  or  certainly  not  in  the  equatorial  or 
southern  portions  of  it,  and  were  presumably  obtained 
from  Western  Asia. 

The  wealth  of  the  Kaffirs  and  of  many  other  African 
tribes  is  mosth'  in  their  cows,  and  for  them  cow's  milk  is 
the  staff  of  life,  as  camel's  milk  is  for  some  Arabs ;  mare's 
milk  for  some  Central  Asiatics ;  and  buffalo's  milk  for 
some  tribes  in  Hindostan.  All  the  milk-drinking  Afri- 
can tribes  milk  into  wooden  buckets  or  water-tight  bas- 
kets, which  are  never  washed,  and  from  which  in  a  few 
minutes  a  sour  fermentation  is  communicated  to  the 
liquid.  When  away  from  his  milk  buckets,  the  Afri- 
can may  suck  the  sweet  milk  from  the  cow,  but  he  pre- 
fers it  sour.*  The  Kalmucks  do  not  drink  their  mare's 
milk  until  it  has  turned  sour. 

Sec.  34.  Beer,  etc. — In  lands  where  the  cocoa-nut 
grows,  its  juice  is  a  favorite  drink,  equally  palatable  and 
nutritious.  The  fresh  saps  of  the  maple,  birch,  palm,  and 
American  aloe  are  used  as  beverages,  but  are  too  insipid 
to  reach  high  favor,  and  are  more  prized  for  fermentation 
or  for  conversion  into  syrups  by  boiling.  The  Soudanese 
have  a  nutritious  and  acidulous  drink  called  abrey,  made 
by  mixing  doora  (which  has  been  ground,  made  into 
dough,  allowed  to  turn  sour  and  dried)  with  water.'  In 
the  valley  of  the  Amazon,  the  nut  of  the  guarana  tree 
is  made  into  paste,  dried,  grated,  and  mixed  with  water 


y^  A    HISTORY    OF    MANKIND. 

to  make  a  common  and  much  prized  drink.  The  paste 
sometimes  sells  to  civilized  visitors  for  sixteen  dollars  a 
pound/  The  Australians  drink  an  infusion  of  the  blos- 
soms of  a  species  of  eucalyptus.  Whether  savages  origi- 
nated the  use  of  any  hot  decoction  as  a  beverage  is  doubt- 
ful. No  hot  drink  was  in  use  among  the  savage  tribes 
of  Africa,  America,  or  Polynesia  when  they  first  became 
known  in  modern  times  to  European  travelers. 

The  natives  of  the  arctic  and  subarctic  climes  drink 
the  oil  of  fish  and  marine  mammals,  either  fresh  or  ran- 
cid ;  and  some  tropical  savages  drink  butter  which  after 
being  well  boiled  and  skimmed,  is  a  liquid  at  a  warm 
temperature  and  remains  sweet  for  a  long  time. 

Fermented  drinks  are  unknown  to  the  Australians, 
Fuegians,  Patagonians,  Eskimos,  and  most  Redmen  in 
their  aboriginal  condition,  but  are  extensively  used 
among  most  other  savages.  Beers,  if  that  name  may 
properly  be  given  to  such  beverages,  are  made  from  the 
saps  of  the  cocoa  palm,  date  palm,  sugar  cane,  and  Amer- 
ican aloe,  from  the  milk  of  the  cocoa-nut,  from  the  juices 
of  various  berries  and  fruits,  from  infusions  of  honey,  from 
various  tubers  and  grains.^  Some  African  and  South 
American  savages  make  their  beer  from  grain  which, 
after  sprouting,  has  been  killed  by  heat,  a  process  per- 
haps learned  from  civilized  men.  In  Africa  and  South 
America  maize  and  cassava  cakes,  and  in  Polynesia  and 
the  West  Indies  sweet  potatoes  are  chewed  and  spit  out 
into  vessels  in  which  the  masticated  material  with  some 
water  is  allowed  to  ferment.  The  beer  thus  made  is  con- 
sidered much  superior  to  that  prepared  from  the  same 
material  without  saliva. 

The  favorite  and  only  stimulating  drink  of  many  Poly- 
nesian and  other  Pacific  islands  is  made  from  the   ava 


<■  oe:C.    35.    NARCOTICS.  77 

root,  by  spittiiiLj  the  masticated  material  into  bowls  (the 
weight  being  doubled  by  the  saliva)*  adding  water  and 
straining.  The  liquid  without  fermentation  is  then 
immediately  ready  for  drinking.  The  flavor  is  compared 
by  one  European  to  soapsuds  with  a  touch  of  essence  of 
ginger  ;^  by  another  to  a  mixture  of  rhubarb  and  mag- 
nesia." In  small  quantities  the  effect  is  exhilarating ;  in 
large  quantities,  intoxicating.  When  much  used  for  a 
long  time  it  causes  a  skin  disease  suggestive  of  leprosy. 
It  is  a  sacred  beverage  prohibited  to  women  and  slaves, 
prominent  in  religious  festivals,  and  never  prepared 
except  with  solemn  ceremonies,  including  an  invocation 
and  libation  to  the  gods. 

Sec.  35.  Narcotics. — Tobacco,  now  the  leading  nar- 
cotic of  the  world,  was  known  in  the  time  of  Columbus 
from  Patagonia  to  Hudson's  Bay.  The  aboriginal  Ameri- 
cans smoked  it  in  pipes  and  cigars,  chewed  it,  and 
snuffed  its  dry  powder  or  its  infusion  into  the  nostrils. 
The  use  last  named  has  been  adopted  as  an  original  dis- 
cover}- in  Ujiji,  Africa.^  The  dried  leaves  and  bark  of 
many  other  plants  were  smoked  by  certain  tribes  of 
Northwestern  America  which  did  not  possess  tobacco.^ 

The  favorite  narcotic  of  the  Malays  and  of  various 
other  races  inhabiting  the  islands  or  mainland  near  the 
Malay  archipelago  is  the  betel  nut,  the  name  given  to 
the  quid  prepared  by  sprinkling  powdered  lime  on  the 
pared  nut  of  the  areca  palm,  and  wrapping  it  in  the  leaf 
of  the  betel  pepper.  Tennent,  who  studied  its  effects  in 
Ceylon,  thinks  that  "  no  medical  prescription  could  be 
more  judiciously  compounded  than  this  combination  of 
the  antacid,  the  tonic  and  the  carminative  "  to  supply  the 
nitrogen  lacking  in  the  ordinary  food  of  many  rice- 
eating  Asiatics.^     Lime  is  an  important  part  of  the  betel- 


7^  A    HISTORY   OF   MANKIND. 

nut  quid,  as  it  is  also  of  the  coca-leaf  quid  of  Peru,  of 
the  gambier-leaf  quid  of  Mandaheling/  of  the  tobacco 
quid  of  South  Africa/  of  narcotic-leaf  quids  of  the 
Thlinkeets,®  some  Californians,  and  some  South  Ameri- 
cans/ and  of  a  narcotic  snuff  of  the  Otomacs.*  For 
chewing,  tobacco  is  mixed  with  soda  by  the  Wadai,  and 
with  ashes  by  the  Somali. 

In  Central  Africa,  the  bitter  and  astringent  kola-nut  is 
chewed  for  its  stimulant  influences.  Among  the  Fulahs 
it  is  offered  to  male  guests,  as  is  a  cigar  in  Europe.^  In 
the  basin  of  the  Amazon,  parica  snuff,  prepared  from 
the  ashes  of  three  plants  gives  a  brief  but  convulsive 
intoxication.'"  Among  the  Hottentots,  delirium  and  un- 
consciousness are  produced  by  chewing  the  kanna  root. 
Besides  their  fungus,  the  Kamtschatkans  use  the  leaves 
of  a  willow-like  bush  to  produce  intoxication  ;"  and  the 
Olooches  eat  a  kind  of  hemlock  for  the  same  purpose.'^ 

In  South  America,  the  stimulant  effects  of  the  cocoa 
leaf  are  obtained  by  chewing  it  or  by  drinking  its  hot 
decoction  ;  and  in  Abyssinia  and  Arabia  the  leaf  of  the 
kaat  {Cclastnis  cdnlis)  is  used  in  the  same  methods  for 
the  same  purpose.'^  The  Chaymas  chew  a  leaf  which 
first  exhilarates  and  then  stupefies,'*  and  the  Australians 
are  similarly  affected  by  eating  pitcherie  leaves.'^ 

Opium,  the  strongest  of  the  narcotics,  is  eaten  or 
smoked  by  relatively  few  savages  and  those  mostly  in 
the  Malay  archipelago.  The  opium  poppy  was  culti- 
vated (probably  for  its  seeds  which  are  not  narcotic) 
by  the  prehistoric  lake-dwelling  savages  of  Switzerland. 
Next  to  opium  in  strength,  and  to  tobacco  in  extent  of 
consumption,  is  hasheesh  or  bhang,  which  has  spread 
from  Hindostan  over  many  islands  near  Asia,  and  over 
much  of  Africa.     In  a    remote  antiquity   the  Hindoos 


SEC.    36.    HUNTING.  JT^ 

chewed  its  leaves ;  and  the  Scythians  intoxicated  them- 
selves with  its  fumes  in  their  religious  ceremonies. 
Another  strong  narcotic,  a  Kamtschatkan  fungus,  causes 
convulsions,  and  is  used  in  a  disgusting  natural  distilla- 
tion.^® A  similar  distillation  with  delirious  influences  is 
familiar  to  the  Cape  Flattery  Indians."  The  Angolese 
also  have  a  narcotic  fungus.'* 

Sec.  36.  Hiintijig. — Many  savage  tribes  are  skillful 
hunters.  Dependent  on  the  chase  for  much  of  their 
food,  they  have  carefully  observed  the  habits  of  wild 
animals,  and  have  mastered  the  arts  of  taking  them  by 
nooses  for  the  neck  or  foot,  catching  in  pitfalls,  luring  by 
decoys  and  imitation  calls,  surrounding,  driving  into 
pens,  nets,  or  narrow  ravines,  or  over  precipices,  and 
killing  by  poison,  by  fire,  by  set  spears,  by  falling  lances, 
and  by  spring  bows.  All  the  traps  and  weapons  made 
without  metals  are  known  to  them.  They  attack  and 
kill  the  lion,  the  tiger,  the  elephant,  the  rhinoceros,  the 
hippopotamus,  the  buffalo,  the  grizzly  bear,  the  white  bear 
and  the  crocodile  without  fire-arms.  The  largest  beasts 
are  slain  by  setting  fire  to  the  dry  brush  or  high  grass  in 
which  they  are  sometimes  found  ;  or  by  letting  a  heavy 
lance  fall  from  a  trap.  For  the  white  bear,  a  strong  piece 
of  whalebone  with  sharp  ends  is  bent  double,  and  tied 
together,  wrapped  with  strips  of  meat  or  blubber,  and 
exposed  to  freezing  cold.  The  meat  when  frozen  being 
.strong  enough  to  hold  the  whalebone  in  its  bent  shape, 
the  string  is  cut,  then  the  bait  is  set  for  the  bear,  and 
soon  after  he  swallows  it,  the  meat  loosens  and  the  whale- 
bone straightens,  cuts  through  the  stomach  and  kills  the 
game. 

The  elk,  the  deer,  the  moose,  the  African  and  Ameri- 
can buffalo,  and  many  other  quadrupeds,  and  the  ostrich, 


Bo  A    HISTORY   OF   MANKIND. 

allow  hunters  disguised  in  the  skins  of  their  respective 
kinds  to  come  near  enough  for  fatal  shots.  Many  tricks 
are  used  to  attract  game  into  places  where  it  can  be 
killed.  When  a  buffalo  calf  is  attacked  by  a  wolf  it 
utters  a  distressful  bawl  which  calls  to  its  aid  all  the  herd 
within  hearing.  The  Indians  take  advantage  of  this 
habit.  One  Redman  dressed  as  a  buffalo  calf,  attacked 
by  another  dressed  as  a  wolf,  bawls  and  draws  a  herd 
into  an  ambush  or  pen.^  The  savage  hunter,  knowing 
the  curiosity  of  the  antelope,  lies  on  his  back  in  sight  of 
his  game  and  waves  a  stick  with  a  colored  rag  at  the 
end  until  one  of  the  herd  comes  near  enough  to  be  shot.'' 
The  Aleut  lies  among  rocks,  showing  only  his  head 
covered  with  a  seal-head  mask  and,  by  the  call  of  the 
female  seal,  attracts  the  male  within  killing  distance.* 

Converging  fences  of  brush  or  net  several  miles  long* 
are  built  leading  to  narrow  ravines,  pits,  precipices  or 
inclosures,  and  a  whole  tribe  with  hundreds  of  men 
assemble  on  an  appointed  day  to  drive  the  game  to  the 
fatal  place.  The  Shoshone  Indians  have  no  material  for 
high  fences,  and  they  undertake  drives  only  when  a  soft, 
deep  snow  or  deep  mud,  makes  the  antelope  averse  to 
high  jumps.  The  game  in  the  inclosure  is  chased  until 
tired  out  and  then  killed  with  clubs.* 

The  Derr  negro  gets  fresh  meat  by  catching  a  poison- 
ous serpent,  punching  its  tail,  passing  a  cord  through  the 
hole  and  tying  the  serpent  in  a  trail  frequented  by  ante- 
lopes on  their  way  to  water.® 

Sec.  37.  Birds. — On  the  coast  of  Northwestern  Amer- 
ica, a  net  is  stretched  across  a  narrow  opening  in  a  forest, 
on  a  route  of  ducks  and  geese,  flying  from  one  body  of 
water  to  another.  The  fowl  scared  in  the  twilight,  fly 
against  the  net,  which  is  hidden  from  them  by  the  smoke 


SEC.    38.    FISHING,  ETC.  Si 

from  a  .smouldering  fire.  When  they  fall  to  the  ground, 
they  are  immediately  captured  b\'  the  watchful  savages.^ 
Similar  nets  are  used  in  Polynesia.'  In  California,  a  net 
thrown  across  a  stream  is  supported  by  high  poles,  to 
one  of  which  it  is  fastened,  while  the  other  end  is  al- 
lowed to  slide  down  till  the  net  lies  in  the  water.  When 
game  worthy  of  the  trouble  comes,  a  quick  pull  on  the 
loose  rope  raises  the  net,  and  the  bird  striking  it,  falls 
into  the  water  and  is  there  caught  by  the  hunter.' 

The  Tungoos  sets  a  net  in  shallow  water  over  fish  roe, 
and  the  duck  diving  for  his  food,  is  caught  in  the  mesh. 
At  a  place  frequented  by  birds,  the  Eskimo  builds  a  snow 
hut  with  a  small  opening  through  which  he  can  thrust 
out  his  hand  to  catch  and  pull  in  his  game.*  The  Aus- 
tralian lies  as  if  dead  with  a  fish  in  his  hand,  and  thus 
catches  the  hungry  bird.*  At  Lake  Winnipeg,  it  was 
observed  that  ducks  approached  a  shore  on  which  a  dog 
ran  backward  and  forward ;  so  dogs  are  trained  to  make 
such  movements,  Avhile  the  master  is  hidden  near  enough 
to  shoot  his  birds.®  The  Tongan  ties  a  male  bird  near  a 
light  cage  containing  a  hen,  in  a  place  where  they  will  be 
seen  and  heard  by  wild  birds  of  the  same  species,  and 
where  from  a  concealed  position  he  can  shoot  the  game 
attracted  by  the  calls  and  movements  of  the  captives.' 
The  Lower  Californian  catches  a  pelican,  ties  it  fast  to 
the  beach,  and  then  issues  from  concealment  when  com- 
passionate pelicans  bring  pouch  loads  offish  to  the  strug- 
gling captive. **  The  Hawaiians  and  Veddahs  catch  small 
birds  with  birdlime.® 

Sec.  38.  Fishing,  etc. — In  spearing  large  fish  and  aquatic 

mammals,  the  sav^age  observed  that  if  the  point   of  the 

weapon  were  firmly  fastened  to  the  shaft, the  weapon  would 

often  be  thrown  out  of  the  wound  or  broken  ;  and  he  de- 

6 


82  A   HISTORY  OF   MANKIND, 

vised  a  loose  point  attached  to  the  shaft  by  a  cord  iii  such 
a  manner  that  so  soon  as  the  pull  is  felt,  the  point  turns 
crosswise  in  the  flesh. ^  The  game  is  not  only  held  more 
securely  but  the  shaft  becomes  a  buoy  to  exhaust  the 
strength  of  the  game  and  to  indicate  its  place.  Seal  ar- 
rows are  attached  to  the  point  by  two  strings,  one  run- 
ning to  each  end,  so  that  the  swimming  animal  has  the 
heavy  drag  of  the  arrow  crosswise  in  the  water.  Blad- 
ders full  of  air  are  attached  as  floats  to  the  harpoons  used 
in  killing  whales,  seals  and  other  aquatic  animals. 

Fish  can  be  seen  at  a  depth  of  forty  feet  in  clear  water 
through  holes  cut  in  ice,  and  at  that  depth  sturgeon  are 
speared  in  Lake  Superior.  The  game  is  attracted  by  the 
bait  of  imitation  fish  to  the  best  place."  Spears  seventy 
feet  long  are  used  on  Puget  Sound  to  strike  fish  felt  and 
not  seen.^  The  Haidahs  have  a  lath  fifteen  feet  long 
with  barbed  nails  for  striking  the  water  in  a  shoal  of 
oolakans,  and  catch  a  dozen  at  a  blow.* 

The  Andamanese  shoot  fish  with  loose-point  arrows. 
Many  tribes  spear  fish  at  night  from  a  boat  carrying  a 
torch.  In  Georgia,  after  the  fish  approach  the  light,  the 
river  is  beaten  with  a  bush,  and  many  of  the  frightened 
fish  jump  out  of  the  water,  to  fall  into  the  boat.  The 
turtle  of  the  Amazon  is  killed  by  an  arrow  which  having 
been  shot  up  into  the  air,  falls  vertically  on  the  animal's 
back  and  thus  can  pierce  his  hard  shell.*  In  some  of 
the  Australian  waters,  a  sucking  fish,  fond  of  attaching 
himself  to  the  turtle,  is  tied  to  a  long  cord  and  allowed 
to  swim  off  to  a  turtle,  which  is  then  drawn  to  the  fisher- 
man's canoe  and  dispatched."  Savages  have  dip  nets 
and  seines,  some  of  the  latter  several  hundred  yards 
long.  In  casting  his  seine,  the  Kanembo  of  Lake  Chad 
sits  on  a  pole  attached  at  each  end  to  a  gourd  buoy. 


SEC.    38.    FISHING,    ETC.  S3 

This  allows  him  to  sink  to  his  waist  in  the  water,  leaving 
his  arms  out,  so  that  he  can  use  them  freely."  The  seine 
knot  of  the  Maoris  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  modern 
Europeans.*  In  Georgia  and  portions  of  South  America 
an  Indian  dives  with  a  net,  and  comes  to  the  surface 
with  a  fish  in  it.'  In  Australia  and  California,  the  native 
di\-es  with  a  spear  and  brings  up  a  fish  on  its  point.'* 
The  Patagonian,  Carib,  Brazilian,  Maori  and  Andaman- 
ese  dive  and  catch  the  finny  game  in  their  hands. 

Savage  fish  traps  are  of  many  kinds.  One  of  the 
most  curious  is  found  in  New  Britain.  Made  of  rattan, 
conical  in  shape,  and  a  little  heavier  than  water,  it  has 
at  the  sharp  end  a  string  and  a  wooden  float.  A  stone 
a  little  heavier  than  the  float  is  laid  on  the  string,  and 
when  a  fish  is  caught  its  movement  throws  off"  the  stone, 
and  the  float  announces  the  capture.'^ 

The  hook  is  so  simple  in  construction  and  so  effective  in 
catching  fish,  that  it  is  known  to  most  savage  tribes,  but 
not  to  the  Tasmanians,  the  Lower  Californians  and  the 
Chippeways.^^  The  savage  hook  made  of  bone,  shell, 
wood  or  stone  is  necessarily  clumsier  than  the  metallic 
hook.  The  barb  is  sometimes  lacking  and  sometimes  is 
attached  to  the  shaft,  not  to  the  point.  In  several  Pacific 
Islands  the  native  hook  is  considered  superior  to  any 
other  for  catching  fish.'^  In  South  America  artificial 
flies,  and  in  many  Pacific  Islands,  imitation  fish  of  lus- 
trous shell,  are  used  for  bait. 

Catching  the  shark  with  a  noose  is  a  favorite  amuse- 
ment  in  many  parts  of  Polynesia  and  Micronesia.  When 
gorged  with  food,  he  likes  to  sleep  or  doze  in  a  coral 
cave,  where  he  may  frequently  be  seen  from  a  canoe. 
If  out  searching  for  something  to  eat,  the  savages  throw 
packages  of  food,  consisting  of  a  mixture  of  fish  and 


84  A    itiStORY    OF    MANKHSfO. 

vegetables,  sometimes  with  an  addition  of  the  narcotic 
ava,  which  stupefies  brute  as  well  as  man.  When  gorged 
and  perhaps  partially  intoxicated,  the  shark  lies  on  the 
sand  or  goes  into  a  cave  ten  or  twenty  feet  below  the 
surface.  A  diver  slips  a  noose  over  the  projecting  tail 
of  the  game,  and  if  the  head  instead  of  the  tail  be  at  the 
mouth  of  the  cave,  the  diver  taps  him  on  the  nose  with  a 
stick,  whereupon  the  drowsy  monster,  to  escape  from 
the  annoyance,  turns  round  and  presents  his  tail  to  his 
enemy.'*  When  the  noose  has  been  fixed,  the  diver 
rises,  gets  into  a  canoe,  and  then  several  canoes  drag  the 
game  to  the  shore  where  it  is  killed.  The  o-orsfingf  is 
sometimes  done  at  night,  and  then  the  game  is  not 
dragged  ashore  until  daylight,  as  the  few  intervening 
hours  tend  to  render  the  shark  more  helpless.  If  the 
shark  be  large,  the  death  scene  on  the  beach  is  an  occa- 
sion of  great  enjoyment  for  all  the  people  in  the  vicinity. 

The  Gilbert  Islanders  catch  the  gorged  shark  with  a 
tail  noose,  and  also  take  the  hungry  shark  with  a  head 
noose.  In  the  latter  case  a  baited  hook  attached  to  a 
small  line  drags  behind  a  boat,  and  when  it  has  attracted 
the  attention  of  the  game  it  is  pulled  forward  until  it 
passes  through  a  noose  of  strong  cord.  The  greedy 
shark  follows,  without  observing  the  noose,  which  is 
suddenly  tightened  when  his  head  has  passed  through. 
His  career  then  soon  comes  to  an  end.'" 

The  aborigines  of  New  Britain  rub  cups  of  cocoa-nut 
shell  together  in  imitation  of  the  sound  of  the  bonito 
fish,  and  when  the  shark  is  attracted  by  the  noise,  the 
fishermen  slip  a  noose  ov^er  his  head  and  drag  him  up 
within  reach  of  their  clubs. "^  The  same  fishermen  sneak 
up  to  the  large  turtle  in  the  sea  and  catch  him  by 
throwing  a  lasso  over  his  head  and  one  fin." 


SEC.  40.  VILLAGES.  85 

Captive  turtles  are  kept  in  lagoons  for  meat  and  eggs 
by  the  Cubans,  Fijians,  and  Amazon  valley  tribes.^^ 
Crocodile  eggs  are  gathered,  and  allowed  to  hatch  on 
the  shore  of  a  pond,  in  which  the  young  reptiles  stay 
until  their  masters,  the  Congoese  negroes,  see  fit  to  eat 
them.''  Fish  taken  with  the  hook  are  carried  to  ponds 
where  they  can  be  caught  easily  whenever  needed,'"  in 
Hawaii  and  Georgia. 

The  female  herring  likes  to  deposit  her  roe  in  shallow 
water  on  fir  boughs,  and  on  the  coast  of  Northwestern 
America,  the  Indians  put  such  boughs  in  the  water,  and 
from  them  get  large  quantities  of  the  herring  roe.'^  In 
every  quarter  of  the  globe  fish  are  stupefied  by  throwing 
vegetable  narcotics  or  poisons  into  the  water  and  are  then 
easily  caught." 

Sec.  39.  Bees. — For  the  purpose  of  finding  the  tree 
in  which  bees  have  their  stores,  the  North  American  In- 
dian puts  honey  on  a  small  flat  stone  with  white  gum  on 
the  edge,  to  which  the  bee  goes  to  get  a  start  for  his 
flight.  Some  of  the  gum  sticks  to  him,  distinguishes 
him  from  other  bees,  and  shows  his  course  direct  to  the 
hive.  At  the  same  time  another  Indian  has  done  the 
same  thing  several  hundred  yards  away.  The  two 
courses  show  the  situation  of  the  tree.  The  Australian 
bee  hunter  stuns  a  bee  by  squirting  water  on  it,  catches 
it,  touches  it  with  gum  and  white  down,  and  follows  it 
thus  burdened  to  its  home.' 

Sec.  40.  Villages. — The  non-tilling  savages  generally 
have  no  permanent  villages.  Without  a  stock  of  food 
for  the  next  week,  or  in  some  instances  even  for  the  next 
day,  they  move  about  frequently  in  search  of  something 
to  eat.  In  portions  of  Australia,  Tasmania,  and  Lower 
California,  there  is  not  more  than  one  inhabitant  for  sixty 


86  A    HISTORY   OF   MANKTVO. 

square  miles  and  a  tribe  or  group  of  thirty  persons  oc- 
cupy a  district  sixty  miles  long  and  thirty  wide.  Every 
year  they  make  a  circuit  of  their  district,  exhausting 
birds,  quadrupeds,  reptiles,  vermin,  insects,  roots,  fruits, 
seeds,  and  nuts  in  their  round  as  they  go,  stopping  a 
week  or  a  day  at  a  place.  In  other  countries  the  natives 
might  go  to  the  rivers  in  the  spring  for  fish  ;  to  the  val- 
leys in  the  summer  for  grass  seeds  ;  to  the  swamps  in 
the  early  autumn  for  roots  and  aquatic  birds ;  and  to  the 
hills  in  the  late  autumn  for  nuts,  nut-eating  birds  and 
quadrupeds.  Tribes  which  live  on  large  game  are  in 
many  cases  nomadic  because  the  animals  on  which  they 
depend  migrate  or  have  different  haunts  at  different  sea- 
sons. The  Dakotas,  Crows  and  Blackfeet  have  station- 
ary villages  in  the  winter,  but  move  half  a  dozen  times  in 
the  remainder  of  the  year,  so  as  to  be  near  the  buffalo. 
At  three  hours'  notice,  their  village  can  be  on  the  road.^ 
The  only  Indians  with  permanent  villages  in  the  basin  of 
the  Missouri  river  are  the  Mandans,  and  they  are  also 
the  only  tribe  in  that  basin  with  tillage  and  with  fortifica- 
tions. 

Many  of  the  littoral  tribes  of  Australia  and  Lower 
California,  depending  mostly  or  wholly  on  shell-fish  for 
food,  move  as  often  as  once  in  three  months. 

A  village  of  non-tilling  savages  rarely  has  more  than 
fifty  inhabitants ;  one  of  tilling  savages  has  usually  at 
least  three  times  as  many,  sometimes  far  more.  Some 
of  the  Iroquois  villages  had  each  several  thousand  peo- 
ple. Hochelaga  in  Canada  was  laid  out  systematically 
with  a  well-constructed  palisade  wall."  The  Maoris  and 
many  Africans  have  carefully-built  fortifications.  The 
Pelew  Islanders,  when  first  found  by  white  men,  had 
paved  streets.* 


SEC.  41.   HUTS,  ETC.  87 

Sec.  41.  Huts,  etc. — The  Tasmanians/  Andamanese,'' 
Bushmen,  Lower  Cahfornians,  Hill  Veddahs,  Fuegians, 
and  some  Piutes,'  Australians  and  Papuans  never  erect 
huts  or  tents,  and  have  no  better  protection  against  wind 
and  rain  than  mere  shelters  open  on  at  least  one  side. 
The  Bushman  digs  a  hole  at  the  side  of  a  bush,  or  sets 
up  a  small  mat,  supported  by  sticks.  The  Australian 
makes  a  little  shed  with  bark  or  bushes.  The  Fuegian 
shelter  is  a  little  better,  but  partly  open.  The  Alforese 
of  the  interior  of  Ceram  often  spends  his  night  in  a  tree- 
top,  where  he  makes  a  little  roof  to  keep  him  dry  when 
it  rains.*  The  low  savage  in  the  interior  of  Sumatra, 
Borneo,  and  Luzon  sleeps  in  the  top  or  hollow  trunk  of 
a  tree. 

A  structure  too  rude  to  be  called  a  house,  and  too 
good  to  be  styled  a  shelter,  is  the  dwelling  of  most  sav- 
ages. Its  covering  is  usually  thatch  or  bark  ;  its  floor  is 
always  the  ground.  There  is  a  hole  in  the  roof  but  no 
chimney  ;  and  no  window.  The  doorways  in  Central  and 
Southern  Africa  are  not  more  than  two  feet  high,  and  to 
enter  them  the  man  must  go  down  on  his  hands  and 
knees.  A  Kaffir  hut  thatched  with  coarse  grass  on  a 
frame  of  light  poles,  can  be  built  by  three  persons  in  two 
hours ;  and  such  a  structure  can  be  given  to  the  flames 
at  the  end  of  three  months  for  the  sake  of  getting  rid  of 
its  insect  occupants. 

In  extensive  regions  of  Africa,  every  tribe  has  a  pecul- 
iar hut  pattern  which  may  be  recognized  from  a  distance, 
so  that  a  glance  at  a  village  informs  the  traveler  whether 
he  has  crossed  a  tribal  boundary.  The  shapes  most 
common  are  those  of  hemispheres,  half  ovals,  cones,  and 
acorns.  Each  wife  has  a  hut  for  herself  and  her  children  ; 
the  husband  has  none  for  himself;  except  at  night  and  at 


88  A    HISTORY    OF    MANKIND. 

meals,  he  expects  to  find  shelter  in  the  assembly  hut  of 
the  village.'' 

The  Polynesian  hut  has  a  bamboo  frame,  a  thatch  of 
pandanus  leav-es,  and  open  sides  which  can  be  closed 
with  mats  in  chilly  weather.  In  those  North  American 
regions  where  the  birch  tree  is  abundant,  its  bark  fur- 
nishes a  convenient  covering  for  huts.^  The  Pimas  and 
some  Australians  make  winter  huts  by  covering  their 
thatch  or  wattle  with  a  thick  coat  of  clay.  The  Mandan 
has  a  hut  forty  or  even  sixty  feet  in  diameter,  with  a 
thick  clay  roof  supported  by  heavy  poles.'  Some  Sibe- 
rians have  similar  huts  but  smaller.  The  Central  Califor- 
nian  has  a  pit-hut  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  in  diameter  for 
his  winter  home.^  Stanley  found  pit-huts  in  Africa  ;'  and 
the  Britons/®  while  tilling  savages,  and  the  barbarous 
ancient  Teutons^'  had  such  dwellings,  and  the  Lapps  have 
them  now.  Some  Shoshone  Indians  go  into  burrows  in 
the  winter.^'" 

The  winter  huts  of  the  Eskimos  are  made  of  cakes 
of  hard  snow  shaped  with  the  knife,  and  laid  up  in 
the  form  of  a  low  dome  or  section  of  a  sphere.  At 
the  joints  loose  snow  is  pressed  in  and  water  poured 
on  slowly  in  freezing  weather  until  ice  fills  the  space  that 
was  open.  When  the  dome  has  received  its  shape,  a  piece 
is  cut  out  to  allow  the  insertion  of  a  slab  of  clear  ice  ::s  a 
window.  The  entrance  is  through  a  long,  low  passage 
which  excludes  the  intensely  cold  outer  air.  The  tem- 
perature of  the  interior  m.ust  never  exceed  thirty-two 
degrees ;  so  soon  as  it  does  the  structure  begins  to  melt. 
The  only  artificial  heat  used  is  that  of  a  lamp. 

Tents  made  of  skin  or  felt,  supported  on  poles  are  used 
extensively  by  savages.  In  North  America  the  tent 
skins  are  obtained  from  buffalo,  elk,  moose  and  deer ;  in 


I; 


SEC.  41.  HUTS,  ETC.  89 

Patagonia  from  the  horse ;  in  Eskimo  regions  from  the 
seal,  sea  lion  and  walrus;  in  Siberia  and  Lapland  from  the 
reindeer.  Felt  made  of  hair  is  used  for  tents  in  Central 
Asia,  the  Sahara  and  some  wooded  districts  of  Africa. 
The  covering  is  sometimes  double  or  triple  for  protection 
against  intense  cold.'^  The  Kirghiz  have  matting  under 
their  felt." 

Dwellings  supported  over  the  water  on  piles  exist  now 
Ij  in  Malaysia,  Melanesia,  Central  Africa,  the  Aino  district 

of  Japan  and  the  Kuki  district  of  Hindostan.  They 
were  found  in  Venezuela  and  Vancouver  Island  by  early 
European  navigators.  As  early  as  5,000  b.  c,  there  were 
two  hundred  pile  villages,  occupied  by  tilling  savages,  in 
the  Swiss  lakes ;  and  Herodotus  mentions  such  villages 
as  existing  in  his  time  in  Southeastern  Europe  and  in 
Western  Asia. 

In  the  valley  of  the  Niger,  the  floor  of  the  hut  should 
be  three  feet  above  the  ground  to  give  protection  against 
snakes,  ants  and  moisture.  On  the  southern  shore  of 
the  Caspian  and  in  portions  of  Africa  and  Melanesia,  a 
height  of  at  least  ten  feet  is  necessary  to  keep  the  sleeper 
above  the  range  of  certain  troublesome  insects.  In  Kim- 
reland,  the  huts  have  floors  twelve  feet  above  the  ground 
with  space  on  them  for  goats,  dogs  and  chickens.  The 
Caribs  have  huts  in  trees  forty  feet  up  to  escape  the 
floods  of  the  Orinoco;  an  1  the  Murray  Islanders  have 
their  homes  fifty  feet  above  the  earth. 

Houses  each  large  enough  t  >  hold  from  five  to  twenty 
families,  were  common  among  most  of  the  American 
tribes  cast  of  the  Mississippi,  and  arc  found  now  among 
the  Dyaks  of  Malaysia.'' 

In  certain  tribes  of  Africa,  North  America,  Polynesia 
and  Malaysia,  custom  requires  ever)'  village  to  have  a 


go  A    HISTORY    OF    MANKIND. 

large  building  for  political,  religious,  social  or  hygienic 
purposes.  Among  the  Mandans,  this  structure  is  exclu- 
sively ecclesiastical ;  among  the  Pueblos,  it  is  ecclesias- 
tical, social  and  hygienic,  being  used  as  a  sweat  or  bath 
house  at  times ;  among  the  Mundrucus,  it  is  the  place 
where  the  warriors  usually  sleep  ;  and  among  the  Malays 
it  is  the  repository  for  the  scalp,  jawbones,  dried  heads 
or  other  trophies  of  the  village.  In  many  tribes,  it  is 
used  for  entertaining  friendly  strangers.  A  hut  built  for 
the  use  of  unmarried  women  and  their  lovers  is  one  of 
the  institutions  of  many  African  villages. 

Sec.  42.  Furniture,  etc. — In  ordinary  savage  life,  the 
household  furniture  is  scanty.  The  Australian,  Tasma- 
nian,  Bushman  and  Californian  sleep  on  the  bare  ground, 
with  little  or  no  covering  in  the  coolest  weather.  Tribes 
a  little  higher  in  their  culture  have  mats,  bark,  cloth 
and  furs.  The  hammock,  invented  by  South  Americans 
as  a  protection  against  insects  and  moisture,  is  simple 
and  serviceable,  and  it  has  the  distinction  of  being  the 
only  piece  of  furniture  adopted  by  civilization  from  sav- 
agism  in  modern  times.  The  Polynesians,  Malays  and 
some  Africans  have  a  little  wooden  trestle  for  supporting 
the  head  or  neck  while  sleeping. 

The  savage  woman,  in  the  migratory  tribes,  has  a 
basket  or  bag  for  carrying  tools,  ornaments  and  food, 
and  a  flat  stone  or  a  mortar  for  crushing  seeds.  In  the 
higher  grades  of  savage  culture,  she  has  several  earthen 
pots  for  cooking.  She  keeps  oil  in  a  skin,  gourd, 
jar  or  hollow  sea  weed.  In  the  Haoussa  country  jars  for 
fat  and  honey  are  made  by  covering  a  lump  of  moist 
clay  with  rawhide,  and  sewing  the  seams  tightly ;  ^  and 
in  Kafifirland  bottles  for  similar  purposes  are  made  by 
plastering  a  mixture  of  rawhide  scrapings  and   blood 


SEC.  42.  FURNITURE,  ETC.  QI 

with  a  little  clay  over  a  clay  mould.'  Drinking  cups  of 
eourds.  cocoa-nut  shells  and  marine  shells  are  found  in  a 
few  tribes. 

Spoons  of  buffalo  horn  or  wood  are  used  with  soups 
and  stews  by  many  North  American  tribes.  Boxes  or 
baskets  to  protect  grain  from  insects,  mice  and  monkeys 
are  made  of  a  bitter  bark  by  the  Badema  negroes ;  and 
grain  sacks  are  made  by  other  tribes  from  the  bark  of  a 
tree.  A  trunk  six  inches  thick  is  cut  to  a  length  of 
fourteen  feet,  the  bark  is  beaten  for  a  distance  of  eleven 
feet  from  the  larger  end,  so  as  to  loosen,  and  stretch  it 
sidewise;  it  is  then  stripped  back,  and  the  eleven  feet  of 
bare  pole  cut  off,  leaving  a  sack  about  six  feet  long,  and 
a  foot  and  a  half  in  diameter,  on  a  pedestal  three  feet  high.* 
A  considerable  part  of  the  furniture  of  the  Bushman 
consists  of  the  mats  behind  which  or  under  which  he 
sleeps,  and  of  the  ostrich  egg  shells  in  which  he  keeps 
water.  The  non-tilling  tribes  generally  have  no  cooking 
utensils.  Some  savages  of  South  America  knew  the 
peculiar  properties  of  caoutchouc,  and  made  it  into  rings 
and  bottles  ;*  and  tool  handles  of  gutta-percha  were  in 
•use  among  Malays  before  it  was  known  to  civilized  men. 

Savages  generally  have  no  artificial  light  save  that  from 
a  fire.  The  pine  knot  is  however  used  for  a  torch  in  hunt- 
ing and  fishing  at  night  by  the  Redmen.  The  Malay 
torch  for  similar  purposes  is  made  with  a  lump  of  pitch 
or  combustible  gum  in  the  end  of  a  piece  of  bamboo. 
Oleaginous  nuts  on  a  wooden  skewer  serve  as  a  substi- 
tute for  a  candle  in  Polynesia,*  and  with  a  piece  of  dry 
bark  through  it  as  a  wick,  the  oolakan  or  candlefish  gives 
light  at  night  to  the  Haidahs.  A  hollow  stone,  a  wick 
of  moss,  and  oil,  obtained  by  chewing  blubber,  make  up 
the  Eskimo's  lamp. 


92  A    HISTORY    OF    MANKIND. 

Sec.  43.  Baskets  and  Alats. — Except  in  regions  where 
the  materials  are  lacking,  no  tribe  is  without  baskets  and 
mats.  The  aborigines  of  Central  California  are  among 
the  lowest  of  savages,  and  yet  they  make  beautiful  water- 
tight baskets  in  which  they  can  boil  porridge,  throwing 
in  red-hot  stones  for  heat.  The  New  Zealanders  possess 
superior  skill  in  making  mats,  for  which  an  excellent 
material  is  furnished  by  their  indigenous  fla.x,  and  for 
which  they  have  much  need  on  account  of  the  coolness 
of  their  climate,  their  ignorance  of  weaving,  their  lack 
of  a  tree  from  which  they  could  make  bark  cloth,  and 
the  scarcity  of  large  skins.  Their  only  quadruped  larger 
than  a  rat  is  the  dog,  and  they  have  few  dogs.  They 
make  mats  for  clothing,  bedding,  hut  walls,  hut  par- 
titions, sails  and  platters.  Of  their  clothing  mats  some 
are  waterproof,  others  are  vety  light  and  a  third  kind 
thick  and  fur  like.  When  the  season  for  mat  plaiting 
comes,  the  Maoris  like  to  collect  in  parties,  and  while  en- 
gaged in  their  work,  listen  to  some  bard  who  recites  the 
legends  and  poems  of  their  race.  It  is  perhaps  largely 
to  these  mat-]3laiting  parties,  that  they  owe  the  wealth 
of  their  legendary  lore.  The  tropical  Polynesians  hav- 
ing an  abundance  of  bark  suitable  for  cloth  and  no  wild 
flax  and,  needing  no  warm  dress,  made  mats  for  bedding 
but  not  for  clothing.  In  America  and  Africa,  where 
large  quadrupeds  furnish  skins  for  leather,  there  is  rela- 
tively little  need  for  mats  and  few  are  made. 

The  Chippeway  Indians,  however,  make  handsome 
mats  of  reeds  growing  in  the  waters  of  Lake  Superior. 
These  reeds  are  cut  at  a  certain  season  of  the  year,  and 
are  boiled  for  three-quarters  of  an  hour  to  make  them 
tough,  then  bleached,  and  dyed,  and  are  plaited  only  in 
rainy  weather  or  in  the  morning  while  the  air  is  damp.* 


SEC.    44.    DOGS.  93 

Sec.  44.  Dogs. — Many  species  of  mammals  and  birds 
are  caught  so  easily;  they  attach  themselves  to  man  so 
readily;  and  he  takes  such  pleasure  in  their  companion- 
ship, that  he  must  have  begun,  in  a  very  early  condition 
of  his  culture,  to  make  pets  of  them.  Such  pets  are 
found  in  most  savage  tribes.  B}'  the  aboriginal  North 
Americans  the  buffalo,  the  moose,  the  bear,  the  wolf,^  the 
deer,  the  eagle,  the  crane,  the  crow ;"  the  squirrel  and  the 
raccoon  were  tamed  occasionally ;  by  the  negro  tribes, 
the  lion,  the  panther,  the  wild  cat,  the  jackal,  the  ante- 
lope, the  ostrich  and  the  monkey  f  by  the  South  Ameri- 
cans, the  tapir,  the  peccary,  the  agouti,  the  monkey,  the 
opossum,*  the  parrot,  the  woodhen  and  the  tortoise;  the 
seal,  and  the  kite  by  some  Australians;*'  and  the  casso- 
wary in  part  of  Melanesia.'  But  in  all  these  cases  the 
object  was  to  get  a  pet  and  nothing  more.  Such  tame 
animals  were  kept  without  companions  of  their  own  spe- 
cies, and  w^ere  not  used  to  breed  a  stock  of  descendants, 
inheriting  the  habits  and  tastes  of  domesticity. 

After  the  petting  of  individual  brutes,  the  next  step  in 
the  domestication  of  animals  was  the  breeding  of  the 
dog,  which  on  account  of  his  keen  scent  and  hearing, 
his  vigilance,  swiftness,  intelligence,  courage,  and  fidelity 
is  valuable  as  a  sentinel,  as  an  aid  in  hunting  and  as  a 
playmate  for  children.  He  requires  less  attention  and 
labor  in  guarding  and  feeding  than  any  other  brute ;  he 
is  more  serviceable  in  the  chase,  and  he  is  more  prompt 
and  efficient  in  defending  man  against  other  animals. 
In  many  countries,  he  not  only  supplies  himself  with 
food  but  brings  some  to  his  master.  He  learns  to  catch 
fish  in  the  water ;  he  scares  fish  into  the  net  of  the  Fue- 
gian  ;  he  serves  as  a  beast  of  burden  dragging  the  tent 
poles  of  the  Missouri   Indian,  and  as  a  beast  of  draught 


94  A    HISTORY    OF    MANKIND. 

when  hitched  to  the  sled  of  the  Eskimo,  traveling  fifty 
miles  or  more  in  a  day. 

The  dog  is  the  most  widespread  of  the  domestic  ani- 
mals ;  he  is  found  among  the  savages  in  every  climate, 
in  every  continent,  and  on  every  large  island.  Where  he 
is  missing,  man  has  no  brute  companion.  The  Anda- 
manese,  Tasmanians,*  some  Micronesians,  Aleuts,'  Bush- 
men and  Californian  tribes  have  no  tame  dogs.  Among 
the  tribes  which  have  the  dog  and  no  other  domestic 
animal  are  the  New  Zealanders,"  the  Niamniams,  some 
Micronesians,  and  the  savages  generally  of  North  and 
South  America ;  and  all  these  occasionally  eat  dog  meat. 

Sec.  45.  Pigs,  etc. — The  pig  was  presumably  the  sec- 
ond animal  in  point  of  time  to  be  domesticated  by  man, 
and  was  certainly  the  second  in  the  breadth  of  area  over 
which  he  was  bred  by  savages.  In  most  of  the  Pacific 
islands,  he  was  the  only  tame  quadruped  besides  the  dog ; 
in  Asia  and  Africa  he  was  common  ;  in  the  Swiss  pile 

villaees  of  the  stone  age  he  was  at  home ;  but  he  was 

•       1 
not  known  to  the  New  Zealanders  before  Cook's  time. 

His  stupidity,  his  sluggishness  when  well  fed,  and  his 
ability  to  find  food  where  many  other  herbivorous  ani- 
mals would  starve,  make  him  valuable.  He  was  un- 
known in  America,  and  the  peccary,  a  kindred  animal, 
found  wild  in  the  basin  of  the  Amazon,  would  not  breed 
except  in  its  wild  condition. 

In  many  regions,  the  sheep,  goat,  cow  and  horse  were 
not  tamed  until  after  the  pig  had  been  man's  companion 
for  centuries.  The  relative  dates  of  the  domestication 
of  the  chicken,  the  goose,  the  duck  and  the  pigeon  are 
unknown,  but  all  were  domesticated  before  men  came 
into  possession  of  metallic  tools.  The  natives  of  Funa- 
fate,  a  Polynesian  island,  have  tame  frigate-birds  which 


Sec.  46.  TILLAGE.  95 

when  the  vinds  are  favorable,  visit  other  parts  of  the 
group,  and  by  tying  things  to  the  necks  of  these  birds, 
at  such  times,  presents  are  sent  to  distant  friends. 

Sec.  46.  Tillage. — Tillage  is  the  characteristic  feature 
of  hieher  sava^ism.  Its  introduction  into  culture  was 
more  important  than  that  of  stone-polishing,  canoe-build- 
ing, weaving  or  pottery,  and  was  earlier  in  time  and 
more  fruitful  in  great  results  than  the  domestication  of 
the  ruminant  animals.  It  gives  to  man  a  steady  supply 
of  food,  a  habit  of  providing  for  the  distant  future,  the 
idea  of  accumulation,  fixed  residence,  dense  population, 
and  higher  political  and  military  organization.  It  teaches 
him  to  live  by  the  toil  not  of  the  day  but  of  the  year. 
It  prepares  the  savage  for  a  life  of  peaceful  labor  and 
constant  industry.^ 

The  chief  articles  of  cultivation  are  maize  in  North 
America  and  Peru ;  cassava  and  the  plantain  in  the  hot 
districts  of  South  America ;  the  banana  in  tropical 
Africa ;  the  doora  in  South  Africa ;  rice  and  the  sago 
palm  in  Malaysia ;  taro  in  tropical  Polynesia,  and  the 
sweet  potato  in  New  Zealand.  In  the  time  of  Columbus, 
the  Indians  east  of  the  Mississippi  planted  maize,  beans, 
peas,  melons,  pumpkins,  gourds,  sunflowers  and  tobacco  / 
and  though  they  did  not  plant  the  black  walnut,  the 
butternut,  the  shellbark  hickory,  the  persimmon,  the 
black  mulberry  and  the  wild  plum,  these  trees  were 
saved  in  fields  where  other  trees  were  killed.  Some 
tropical  South  Americans  had  cultivated  the  papunha,  a 
fruit  resembling  an  (i^^g  plum,  so  long  before  the  time  of 
Columbus  that  when  white  men  first  saw  it,  it  was 
occasionally  seedless.^  Long  cultivation  is  also  implied 
by  the  lack  of  seeds  in  the  Brazilian  breadfruit*  and  in 
the  Brazilian  manioc* 


96  A    HISTORY   OF   MANKIlSfD. 

The  Polynesians  plant  bananas,  breadfruit,  cocoa-nut, 
taro,  sweet  potato,  ginger  ava,  and  the  paper  mulberry. 
The  Maoris  make  fences,  dig  up  the  soil  with  pointed 
sticks  hardened  in  fire,  and  put  sand  on  heavy  soils. 
The  taro  in  tropical  Polynesia  requires  careful  and  liberal 
flooding.  The  Wanyikas  cultivate  a  cucumber  for  its 
seeds  from  which  they  make  a  salad  oil.  As  the  North 
Americans  have  their  fields  of  tobacco,  so  have  the 
Africans  theirs  for  Indian  hemp,  the  Malagasies  theirs  for 
betel  pepper,*  and  the  South  Americans  theirs  for  cocoa.' 
Wheat,  barley,  flax,  apples,  pears  and  poppies,  all  brought 
from  Asia,  were  cultivated  by  the  Swiss  lake  dwellers  in 
the  stone  age. 

After  it  had  been  proved  by  experience  that  edible 
fruits,  seeds  and  tubers  could  be  obtained  by  cultivation, 
the  spread  of  tillage  was  obstructed  by  nomadic  hab- 
its, the  difficulty*  of  protecting  fields  against  marauding 
animals,  the  disgrace  attached  to  the  man  engaged  in 
agricultural  labor,  the  custom  of  treating  all  large  stocks 
of  food  as  common  property,  the  dislike  of  steady  toil, 
the  general  disposition  to  strive  for  nothing  save  imme- 
diate results.  Although  many  tribes  till  the  ground,  the 
field  work  is  done  by  women,  serfs  or  slaves.  It  would 
dishonor  the  noble  or  freeman.  The  Creek  warrior  may 
gather  the  maize  when  it  is  ripe,  but  he  must  not  plant  it 
or  hoe  it.  The  Kaffir  warrior  drives  the  cows  to  and 
from  the  pasture,  puts  them  in  the  pen  at  nightfall,  lets 
them  out  in  the  morning,  and  milks  them,  but  he  must 
not  touch  the  digging  stick. 

Many  of  the  obstacles  to  the  spread  of  tillage  were 
removed  by  a  strong  political  organization,  in  which 
chiefs  defended  property  rights ;  by  a  strong  ecclesiasti- 
cal   organization    which    sanctified   slavery ;    and   by  a 


SEC.    46.    TILLAGE.  9/ 

strong  military  organization  which  repelled  alien  enemies, 
and  kept  a  large  stock  of  slaves  in  subjection.  Protected 
by  such  institutions,  slavery  repaid  them  by  giving  them 
greater  strength.  It  accustomed  the  masters  to  study 
and  the  slaves  to  practice  steady  toil ;  taught  many  dis- 
tinct occupations  ;  gave  density  of  population  ;  and  made 
men  familiar  with  the  accumulation  of  large  stores  of  pro- 
vision and  other  property.  It  was  especially  prosper- 
ous in  temperate  climes  where  energy  is  not  oppressed 
by  enervating  heat,  ani  where  the  struggle  of  agricul- 
ture against  the  luxuriance  of  wild  vegetation,  is  less 
difficult  than  in  torrid  regions.  The  temperate  zone  also 
yields  most  abundantly  the  nitrogenous  cereals,  contain- 
ing a  large  amount  of  food  for  the  muscles,  in  the  smallest 
space,  and  in  forms  that  can  be  preserved  for  a  long  time 
without  change,  ani  that  can  be  transported  over  long 
distances  with  relatively  little  expense.  As  nutriment  for 
men  of  higli  physical  and  intellectual  energy,  the  typical 
cereals  of  the  temperate  zone — .vheat,  barley,  rye,  oats 
and  maize — are  far  superior  to  the  banana,  plantain, 
breadfruit,  cocoa-nut,  taro,  yam,  cassava,  sago  and  rice 
of  the  tropics,  to  the  date  of  the  subtropical  lands  and  to 
the  blubber  of  the  polar  regions.  With  the  aid  of  tillage, 
culture  began  to  move  away  from  the  equator,  and  its 
march  in  that  direction  has  been  continous  ever  since. 

Among  the  tilling  tribes  of  the  Redmen  it  was  the 
custom  that  there  should  be  one  field  near  each  vil- 
lage, and  in  that  field  every  family  should  have  a  patch 
as  large  as  it  could  cultivate.  The  record  of  DeSoto's 
expedition  says  he  traveled  for  two  Spanish  leagues  or 
more  than  five  English  miles  in  one  field,  the  magnitude 
of  wliich  implied  a  dense  population  and  general  confi- 
dence in  the  security  of  property.  Irrigation  was  not 
7 


98  A    HISTORY   OF   MANKIND. 

used  in  America  by  savages  ;  it  was  applied  in  Polynesia, 
especially  in  the  fields  of  taro,  which  without  it  would 
not  thrive.  The  Maoris  fertilized  their  fields  and  carried 
sand  to  mix  with  clay  soils. 

The  cultivation  of  maize  and  tobacco  did  not  arise 
simultaneously  in  all  parts  of  America,  but  each  must 
have  started  in  a  small  district  from  which  it  was  spread 
by  savage  enterprise  over  extensive  regions ;  as  in  mod- 
ern times  those  plants  and  cassava  have  been  carried  by 
savages  over  much  of  Africa.  The  cocoa-nut,  banana 
and  various  palms  owe  their  introduction  in  many  dis- 
tricts to  the  same  influence. 

Most  hill  tribes  of  Hindostan  move  their  villages  once 
in  three  years,  and  after  tilling  a  field  for  a  season  or  two, 
desert  it  for  another.  The  abandoned  tract  is  soon  cov- 
ered with  bushes,  which,  after  a  good  rest,  are  burned 
to  enrich  the  soil  and  prepare  it  for  another  crop.  Many 
negro  tribes  have  a  similar  rotation  of  fields.* 

Sec.  47.  Implemoits,  etc. — The  simplest  and  proba- 
bly the  earliest  implement,  used  in  loosening  the  soil 
and  preparing  it  for  the  reception  of  seeds,  is  the  digging 
stick,  a  sharp  pole,  six  feet  long.  Four  or  five  of  these 
are  driven  aslant  into  the  ground  round  a  circle  a  foot 
and  a  half  in  diameter,  the  points  directed  towards  a 
common  center,  and  the  enclosed  circle  is  pried  up  by 
concert  of  action.  Such  digging  sticks  are  used  in 
Africa.  A  great  improvement  upon  this  is  made  by 
using  a  flat  pole  or  wooden  spade  with  a  cross  piece 
near  the  point  for  the  foot,  such  as  was  observed  by  Cook 
in  the  Tongan  group  and  also  in  New  Zealand.^  Hoes 
are  made  in  Africa,  Polynesia  and  North  America  with 
blades  of  stone,  shell,  wood  and  bone;  and  the  shoulder 
blade  of  the  deer  was  in  common  use  for  a  hoe  blade  in 


SEC.   48.    MILK-YIELDERS.  gg 

Georgia.     Stone  adzes  were  also  much  used  as  substi^ 
tutes  for  hoes. 

Sec.  48.  Milk-yielder's. — The  pile-dwelHng  Swiss  of 
the  stone  culturestep  had  the  cow  and  sheep,  and 
therefore  the  domestication  of  those  ruminants  belongs 
perhaps  to  savagism.  The  sheep  was  not  indigenous 
in  Europe  and  must  have  come  from  Asia,  as  perhaps 
did  the  cow.  Whether,  in  other  regions,  the  goat,  ass, 
horse  and  camel  were  domesticated  as  early  as  the 
cow  and  sheep,  is  uncertain.  The  cow  of  the  savage  is  a 
very  different  animal  from  that  of  the  highly  civilized 
man.  To  the  Damara  she  yields  three  pints  of  milk  a 
day ;  *  to  the  European  thirteen  times  as  much. 

The  tame  milk-yielding  animal  increased  the  stock  of 
food  and  of  property,  contributed  to  maintain  a  denser 
population,  provided  a  medium  of  exchange,  and  sup- 
plied nourishment  to  infants,  which  had  previously  de- 
pended exclusively  on  the  mother's  breast  for  three  or 
four  years.'  When  iialf  of  the  previous  period  of  lacta- 
tion was  cut  off  for  the  woman,  and  the  drain  for  the 
other  half  much  diminished,  her  social  value  rose.  Her 
life  was  rendered  easier.  She  became  more  attractive  to 
her  husband.  She  could  rear  more  children.  One  of 
the  chief  excuses  for  polygamy  was  destroyed,  and  the 
domestic  circle  was  .strengthened. 

The  only  use  for  butter  among  many  African  tribes  is 
to  anoint  their  bodies,  and  the  ancient  Teutons  and 
Slavonians  applied  it  to  a  similar  purpose.^  In  Kaffra- 
ria  and  other  regions  of  South  Africa,  the  dairy  work 
and  herding  are  done  by  the  men/  The  cow,  which  was 
a  common  domestic  animiil  of  Egypt  in  4,000  b.  c, 
is  superior  to  all  the  other  ruminants  as  a  niilk- 
yieldcr,  is  unsurpassed  for  meat  and  for  leather,  and  is 


loo  A   HISTORY   OF   MANKIND. 

equaled  by  few  animals  in  docility  of  disposition.  The 
dromedary  of  Arabia,  the  camel  of  Bactria,  the  horse  of 
Turkestan  or  Persia — called  by  the  early  Assyrians  "  the 
pack  animal  of  the  East  "  ^ — ^and  the  goat  of  Western  Asia 
were  presumably  each  first  domesticated  in  their  indige- 
nous regions. 

Our  sheep  has  lost,  more  than  any  other  domestic  ani- 
mal, its  fitness  for  a  wild  life.  Its  dependence  on  man  for 
food  and  protection,  and  the  excellence  of  its  meat  and 
wool,  secure  favor  for  it  among  savages  as  well  as  among 
civilized  nations.  In  low  culture,  its  wool  is  not  shorn 
but  is  plucked  out  as  it  was  by  the  Romans  in  Pliny's 
time.®  The  goat  is  better  adapted  than  the  sheep  to 
bush-covered  and  steep  mountains,  and  in  portions  of 
Africa  uninhabitable  for  the  cow  or  horse  on  account  of 
the  tzfetse  fly,  and  too  warm  for  the  sheep,  the  goat  is  the 
only  milk-yielder. 

The  cow,  horse,  camel  and  buffalo  are  used  for  burden 
but  not  for  draught  among  savages,  but  their  chief  value 
to  them  is  for  milk  and  meat.  A  small  herd  of  either  of 
these  animals  is  sufficient  to  maintain  a  savage  family, 
and  its  possession  stimulates  its  owner  to  adopt  habits  of 
economizing  and  providing  for  the  distant  future.  He 
studies  the  habits  of  his  beasts,  learns  to  treat  their  dis- 
eases, erects  shelter  and  stores  food  for  them,  becomes 
skillful  in  training  them,  trades  with  them,  makes  them  a 
source  of  accumulating  wealth  and  rises  more  and  more 
above  the  rude  modes  of  life  prevalent  among  the  lowest 


savages. 


Sec.  49.  Boats. — The  simplest  form  of  the  incipient 
boat  is  a  floating  log  on  which  a  man  sits  astride  pro- 
pelling himself  with  legs  and  arms.  On  such  supports, 
Australians  visited  European  ships  in  the  last  century. 


SEC.    49.    BOATS.  lOI 

The  next  step  in  the  art  of  navigation  was  to  fasten  two 
or  more  logs  side  by  side,  or  to  tie  a  number  of  reeds  or 
canes  together  in  a  raft.  A  great  advance  was  made 
when  some  man  hollowed  out  a  log,  to  reduce  its  weight, 
increase  its  buoyancy,  and  make  a  dry  place  for  himself, 
his  food,  his  weapons,  and  his  clothing.  Such  boats 
with  square  ends,  and  semicircular  bottoms  as  if  made 
from  a  tree  trunk  split  through  in  the  middle,  have  been 
foimd  in  European  mounds.  One  such  boat  had  two 
handles  at  each  end,  so  that  it  could  be  carried  conven- 
iently on  land.'  The  next  improvement  was  to 
sharpen  the  end  so  that  the  boat  would  mov^e  easily 
through  the  water ;  and  another  was  to  change  the  shape 
of  a  cross  section  from  a  semicircle  to  the  transverse 
section  of  a  long  oval. 

Many  modern  tribes  never  learned  to  make  anything 
better  than  a  raft  for  navigation.  Among  them  were  the 
Californians  on  San  Francisco  Bay  and  its  tributaries,  the 
Tasmanians  and  many  Australians,  though  all  of  them 
had  easy  access  to  large  trees  well  suited  for  canoes.^ 

The  boats  of  savages  may  be  classified  as  dugouts, 
plank  canoes,  bark  canoes,  and  skin  boats.  The  dugouts 
are  made  from  the  trunk  of  a  tree  with  the  aid  of  fire,  by 
the  Andamanese,  the  Rcdmen  east  of  the  Rocky  moun- 
tains south  of  latitude  forty -two  degrees,  and  many  others. 
Pitch  is  put  on  the  wood  to  be  burned  out  and  wet  ckiy 
on  that  to  be  protected.*  Stone  axes  are  used  in  cutting 
away  the  charred  material,  and  several  men  work  for 
months  in  making  a  small  c  uioe.*  In  recent  years, 
dugout  canoes  si.xty  feet  long  and  six  feet  wide  have  been 
made  by  the  Haidahs,*  who  after  doing  all  the  other  work, 
use  hot  water  to  make  the  wood  pliable,  so  that  they  can 
give  the  desirable  width  to  the  upper  part  of  the  sides. 


I02  A    HISTORY    OF    MANKIND. 

Bark  canoes  are  used  on  the  St.  Lawrence  and  its  trib- 
utary waters,  the  upper  Mississippi,  the  upper  Missouri, 
the  Yukon,  and  many  other  streams  of  Northern  Amer- 
ica ;  and  also  in  Guiana,^  Ugogo,'  and  parts  of  AustraHa.^ 
A  tough  and  flexible  bark,  such  as  that  of  the  birch — 
perhaps  the  best  of  all  barks  for  canoe  purposes — is 
peeled  from  the  tree  in  a  single  piece,  sewed  together  at 
the  ends,  covered  with  pitch  at  the  seams,  and  stiffened 
with  a  light  wooden  frame.'  A  birchbark  boat  carries 
ten  times  its  own  weight,  will  last  for  three  or  four 
years  and  can  be  made  by  one  man  in  a  week.  The 
Maoris  have  canoes  of  wood  and  also  of  mats,'"  and  mat 
boats  are  made  in  California. '^ 

For  the  savage,  without  metallic  tools,  it  was  far  more 
difficult  to  make  a  plank  boat  than  a  dugout.  He  could 
not  saw  out  a  board ;  he  had  no  accurate  scale  of  meas- 
urement ;  and  he  had  no  nails.  Nevertheless  he  accom- 
plished the  task.  He  made  planks  by  burning  and  chip- 
ping with  a  stone  adze ;  he  fitted  the  pieces  together  by 
his  eye;  he  sewed  them  together  with  twine  or  rattan; 
and  he  covered  the  seams  with  pitch.  Thus  he  made 
boats  thirty  yards  long  and  two  wide,  with  room  for 
more  than  a  hundred  men.  The  largest  plank  boats  of 
savages  in  stone  culture  were  those  of  the  Fijians  and 
Polynesians.  The  Micronesians,  Malays  and  Fuegians 
make  their  boats  in  the  same  manner,  but  the  Fuegian 
boats  are  small. 

Boats  of  skin  stretched  on  wooden  frames  are  made 
by  the  Missouri  Ri\'er  Indians,  by  the  Abipones  of 
South  America,  and  by  the  Eskimos.  The  boat  used  by 
the  Eskimo  for  seal  hunting  is  admirably  adapted  to 
its  purpose,  and  is  one  of  the  wonders  of  marine  archi- 
tecture.^''    Although,  so  small  that  it  cannot  carrj^  more 


SEC.    49.    BOATS.  IC3 

than  one  person,  and  that  its  upper  surface  is  only  six 
inches  above  the  water,  yet  in  it  the  Eskimo  can  venture 
far  out  to  sea  in  rough  weather.  It  has  a  close  deck, 
with  which  the  dress  of  the  boatman  is  so  connected, 
that  the  water  can  wash  over  him  without  getting  into 
the  boat.  For  propulsion,  the  chief  dependence  is  the 
paddle.  The  oar  and  scull  are  known  to  few  savages. 
A  sail  of  matting  or  of  skin  is  used  by  the  Pacific  Island- 
ers, Malays,  Caribs,  Floridians,  and  some  African  tribes. 

The  outrigger,  a  substitute  for  ballast,  peculiar  to  the 
aborigines  of  the  Pacific  and  Indian  oceans,  is  a  log  or 
bamboo  stem  resting  in  the  water,  parallel  with  the 
canoe,  six,  eight  or  even  twelve  feet  from  it,  and  at- 
tached to  it  by  crosspieces  above  the  level  of  the  water. 
The  outrigger  is  on  the  windward  side,  and  in  case  of 
change  in  the  wind  or  in  the  course  of  the  boat,  the  sail 
and  perhaps  the  mast  is  shifted.  When  the  breeze  be- 
comes so  strong  that  the  outrigger  is  lifted  nearly  out 
of  water,  men  go  out  on  it  or  weights  are  placed  on  it 
to  preserve  the  equilibrium.  Alone  among  the  Polyne- 
sians, the  Maoris  had  no  outriggers.'^  The  Samoans 
considered  it  impossible  for  sail  boats  to  live  in  a  rough 
sea  without  them,  and  they  wondered  at  the  prediction  of 
one  of  their  priests  in  the  last  century,  that  a  large  boat, 
without  an  outrigger,  would  arrive  with  people  different 
from  any  they  had  ever  seen.'*  A  pole  projecting  out 
to  windward  serves  instead  of  an  outrigger  in  small 
canoes.^*  The  Solomon  Islanders  have  a  double  out- 
rigger, that  is,  one  on  each  side  of  the  canoe. 

The  Tahitians,  New  Caledonians,  Malays,"'  and  some 
Congoes"  occasionally  attach  two  canoes  together,  side 
by  side,  but  from  six  to  twelve  feet  apart,  either  with  two 
cross-pieces  or  with  an  intervening  deck. 


104  A    HISTORY    OF    MANKIND. 

Rude  as  are  the  Polynesian  boats,  many  of  them  make 
voyages  of  more  than  a  thousand  miles,  sailing  from 
Tahiti  to  Hawaii  and  back  with  confidence  based  on  ex- 
perience, and  trusting  to  the  stars  for  guidance.  The 
Micronesians  and  Malays  make  similar  voyages.  To 
such  ventures  much  of  the  original  settlement  of  the 
Pacific  isles  is  due.  The  Indians  of  Florida  sail  in  their 
boats  to  the  Bahamas. 

The  sled,  the  only  vehicle  made  by  savages  for  land 
transportation,  is  used  by  them  only  on  snow  or  ice. 
Constructed  of  wood  or  bone,  and  weighing  perhaps  not 
more  than  twenty  pounds,  it  can  carry  a  load  of  two 
hundred.  It  is  drawn  by  reindeer  or  dogs,  and  the  only 
harness  is  a  single  rope  or  trace  for  each  animal ;  for  the 
reindeer  a  cord  is  attached  to  his  head.  The  cart  wheel 
was  unknown  to  the  Americans  and  Polynesians  when 
these  people  were  discovered  by  the  modern  Europeans. 

Sec.  50.  Pottery. — Pottery  was  unknown  to  the  Poly- 
nesians who  had  no  potter's  clay,  to  the  Eskimos  who 
had  no  fuel  for  kilns,  and  to  the  non-tilling  savages 
generally.  In  shaping  their  clubs,  spears,  paddles  and 
poles,  as  in  making  canoes,  mud  was  used  to  protect  por- 
tions of  the  wood  from  burning.  Such  applications  sug- 
gested that  wet  clay  should  be  plastered  over  a  basket 
or  a  gourd  that  was  to  be  set  on  a  fire  to  heat  water. 
In  1503,  Capt.  Gonneville  found  South  Americans  boiling 
water  in  wooden  pots  so  protected.^  Gourds  and  bas- 
kets for  use  on  the  fire  were  covered  with  clay  in  Aus- 
tralia.^ Pots  were  moulded  over  gourds  in  Georgia,^ 
and  others  bearing  the  marks  of  the  baskets  on  which 
they  were  moulded  have  been  found  in  Illinois,  Georgia, 
and  Brazil.*  Indeed  this  method  of  shaping  pots  was 
not  abandoned  by  the  Cherokees  when  white  men  first 


SEC.    51.    THREAD,    CLOTH,    ETC.  I05 

became  familiar  with  them.  Some  of  the  pottery  of  the 
tilHng  Swiss  lake  dwellers  was  marked  with  the  thumb- 
nail in  imitation  of  basketwork,  suggesting  that  pots  had 
previously  been  made  in  or  over  baskets.  A  considerable 
advance  was  made;  it  was  found  that  the  clay  could  be 
shaped  and  burned  as  well  without  a  wooden  frame. 

Many  different  materials  were  tried.  Some  clay  cracked 
in  drying;  some  broke  very  easily  after  being  burned. 
Different  kinds  of  clay  were  mixed  together,  or  silicious 
or  calcareous  matter  was  added  to  the  paste.*  The 
Kaffirs  make  pots  of  the  hills  of  the  white  ants.®  The 
Redmen  generally  burn  their  pottery  in  the  open  air; 
among  the  tribes  which  understood  the  advantages  of 
the  oven  were  the  Arowaks  of  South  America.' 

Out  of  burned  clay  the  North  American  Indians  made 
pipes,  idols,  cups,  water  bottles,  jars,  and  cooking  pots, 
including  some  holding  ten  gallons  or  more  for  boiling 
down  maple  sap  or  salt  water.  Large  pots  to  be  used 
over  a  fire  had  holes  in  the  sides  for  a  suspending  pole 
which  was  protected  against  the  flames  by  wet  clay.^ 
The  Fijians  made  jugs  with  hollow  handles  for  spouts. 

Soapstone  or  steatite  was  fashioned  into  cooking  pots 
in  Maryland,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  New  Jersey,  New 
York,  Michigan,  New  England,  in  Catalina  Island,  and  in 
the  land  of  the  Eskimos.  The  Eskimos  also  make  pots 
of  flat  stones  on  which  they  build  up  a  rim  of  other 
stones  fastened  together  with  a  cement  compounded 
with  grease  and  lampblack.  The  Aleuts  make  pots  with 
rims  of  clay  on  a  bottom  of  stone.' 

Sec.  5  I .  Thread,  Cloth,  etc. — The  art  of  spinning  is 
known  to  all  savages.  The  Australians  practice  it  in  its 
rudest  form  ;  they  twist  the  fibers  by  rolling  them  on 
the  knee  under  the  hand.^     The  Redmen  and  the  more 


I06  A  HISTORY  OF  MANKIND. 

advanced  tribes  use  a  spindle  with  a  weight  or  whorl 
attached  to  save  labor.  The  sinews  of  large  mammals 
are  split  up  into  fine  threads,  but  they  are  not  well 
suited  for  use  in  garments  or  weapons  often  exposed  to 
the  water,  and  for  these,  thread  of  vegetable  fibre  is  pre- 
ferred. 

Sewed  clothing  is  unknown  to  savages  generally,  but 
is  found  among  the  American  Indians  east  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  who  wear  sewed  leggins,  moccasins,  and 
cloaks.  It  exists  also  among  the  Eskimos  who  use  the 
needle  in  preparing  all  their  garments.  Some  of  the  Es- 
kimo thread  made  of  whole  sinew  is  as  delicate  in  fibre 
as  fine  sewing  silk.  The  prehistoric  European  cave 
dwellers  lived  in  a  subfrigid  climate  and  had  bone  nee- 
dles suggestive  of  sewed  clothing. 

In  Polynesia,  Micronesia,  Melanesia,  and  portions  of 
Central  Africa  and  South  America,  cloth  made  of  bark 
is  used  for  clothing  and  bedding.  In  Polynesia  it  is 
made  from  paper  mulberry  saplings  about  two  inches  in 
diameter.  Each  sapling  supplies  a  piece  of  bark  about 
six  inches  wide  and  six  feet  long.  After  the  hard  outer 
coat  has  been  scraped  off,  the  bark  is  beaten  till  it 
spreads  out  to  a  width  of  two  feet ;  several  pieces  are 
glued  together  at  the  sides ;  the  joints  are  beaten  till 
they  are  invisible ;  and  the  manufacture  ends  with  print- 
ing in  colors  and  varnishing.  Such  cloth,  though  easily 
torn  and  soon  spoiled  when  exposed  to  the  rain,  is  pro- 
duced with  little  labor  and  is  well  suited  to  the  wants  of 
a  tropical  climate. 

In  its  origin,  weaving  was  much  later  than  .spinning. 
It  was  unknown  to  the  non-tilling  savages  generally, 
and  also  to  the  Polynesians,  Melanesians,  Fuegians,  Kaf- 
firs  and  many  other  Africans,  and   though  known   to 


SEC.   52.    LEATHER.  lO/ 

many  Nortli  American  tribes,  was  little  practiced  among 
them.  The  simplest  weaving  known  was  done  by  the 
Xootka  Indians  with  unspun  fibres  of  fir  bark.  The 
same  process  was  known  to  the  various  other  Redmen, 
and  also  to  the  tilling  savages  of  the  Swiss  pile  villages. 
The  Haidah  Indians  beat  the  inner  bark  of  the  cedar 
tree,  spin  it  and  weave  it.  They,  and  many  other  tribes, 
pluck  or  shear  their  dogs  every  spring  for  the  wool. 
Cloth  is  made  of  buffalo  hair  in  the  basin  of  the  Missis- 
sippi. 

The  cloth  of  the  savages  is  usually  made  by  hand 
weaving  or  stick  weaving — that  is,  the  tram  is  passed 
under  and  over  alternate  warp  threads  by  the  fingers  or 
by  a  stick.  The  Chippeways  had  an  upright  frame  with 
horizontal  rollers  about  five  feet  long  and  four  feet 
apart.  A  single  thread  wrapped  over  these  rollers 
formed  the  warp,  and  after  the  tram  had  been  woven  in, 
a  cut  through  the  warp  made  a  piece  of  cloth  five  feet 
wide  and  eight  feet  long.  The  device  of  raising  all  the 
alternate  threads  at  one  movement  and  lowering  them  at 
another,  so  that  the  tram  could  be  passed  rapidly  from 
side  to  side,  was  known  to  very  few  savages,  and  the 
shuttle  to  none. 

In  portions  of  America,  a  mat-like  cloth  is  made  by 
cutting  the  skins  of  rabbits  or  wild  geese  into  strips,^ 
and  then  plaiting  these  strips  together.  In  Tahiti  and 
Hawaii  beautiful  feather  mantles,  to  be  worn  by  the  high 
chiefs,  are  woven.  A  thin  flexible  mat  serves  as  a  basis 
and,  on  the  outside,  is  hidden  by  the  feathers. 

■Sec.  52.  LcatJicr. — The  process  of  tanning  with  astrin- 
gent substances  is  certainly  unknown  to  most  and 
perhaps  to  all  savages  save  those  tribes  which  have 
learned    it    from    nations    in  a   higher    culturestep ;    but 


I08  A    HISTORY   OF   MANKIND. 

many  tribes  are  familiar  with  other  modes  of  dressing 
hides  so  as  to  make  them  soft,  phable  and  warm  for 
purposes  of  clothing.  Stretching,  scraping,  rubbing, 
chewing,  smoking  and  soaking  with  various  liquid  or 
semi-liquid  substances,  are  among  the  methods  em- 
ployed. The  skins  are  rubbed  with  brains  of  buffalo  or 
deer  by  the  North  American  Indians ;'  with  chewed 
liver  by  the  Patagonians ;"  with  clotted  milk  and  flax- 
seed by  the  Abyssinians  f  and  with  willow  bark  and  a 
fetid  liquid  by  the  Chookchees.*  The  seal  skins  of  the 
Eskimos  are  rendered  pliable  by  soaking  in  household 
lye  followed  by  chewing.  In  the  Soudan,  hides  are 
made  waterproof  with  milk.°  The  Monbuttoo  Africans 
are  distinguished  by  their  ignorance  of  all  methods  of 
dressing  hides  into  leather.  Out  of  salmon  skin,  the 
Chookchees  make  a  leather  for  woman's  clothincr." 

Sec.  53.  Traffic. — The  aboriginal  Californians  gener- 
ally, the  Australians,  the  Tasmanians,  the  Andamanese, 
the  Bushmen,  the  Fuegians,  and  other  non-tilling  sav- 
ages have  no  medium  of  exchange,  no  professional  trader, 
no  habit  of  depending  on  traffic  for  acquiring  any  neces- 
sary of  life,  no  custom  of  assembling  for  commercial 
purposes,  no  accumulation  of  articles  intended  for  barter 
or  sale,  and  no  such  division  of  labor  that  any  man 
could  consider  himself  secure  from  the  toil  of  hunting 
up  food  for  himself  The  first  separate  occupation  seems 
to  have  been  that  of  the  priest ;  next,  perhaps  that  of 
the  knife  maker,  and  then  of  the  chief 

Unless  brought  into  contact  with  people  in  a  higher 
culturestep,  there  is  very  little  traffic  among  non-tilling 
savages.  The  mounds  of  Central  California  contain  few 
articles  brought  from  distant  regions.  But  the  tribes  in 
New  York  had  obsidian  knives  from  Mexico ;  those  in 


SEC.    54.    METALS.  lOQ 

Ohio  had  redstone  pipes  from  Minnesota,  and  copper 
from  Michigan  ;  those  in  Tennessee  had  marine  shells  and 
shark's  teeth  from  the  Atlantic;  and  those  in  many  dis- 
tricts east  of  the  Mississippi  had  greenstone  axe-heads 
and  chert  arrowheads  brought  from  distant  regions. 

As  mediums  of  exchange,  we  find  cowries  in  Western 
Africa^  and  New  Britain ;'  shell  beads  or  wampum  east 
of  the  Mississippi  and  in  Northern  California,^  salt  in 
portions  of  Africa,  various  ornaments  of  shell  or  crys- 
tal in  other  parts  of  the  world,  and  domestic  animals 
wherever  they  exist.    Coin  is  not  a  product  of  savagism. 

Fairs,  for  purposes  of  traffic,  are  common  in  many 
tribes  of  the  Pacific,  of  Africa,  and  of  Malaysia,  and 
are  held  at  regular  intervals.  Such  gatherings  in  the 
Hawaiian  and  Fijian  groups  attract  visitors  from  distant 
islands.  In  some  portions  of  Polynesia,  the  privilege 
of  trading  with  people  from  a  distance  belongs  exclu- 
sively to  the  nobles ;  in  others  to  the  chiefs. 

Sec.  54.  Metals. — The  Australians,  Tasmanians,  Pa- 
cific Islanders,  Californians  and  many  other  savages,  when 
first  observed  by  civilized  travelers,  had  no  metal. 
Some  American  tribes  east  of  the  Mississippi  had  pieces 
of  native  copper  which  they  had  pounded  into  knives, 
chisels,  arrowheads,  spear  heads,  awls,  daggers,  and  orna- 
ments. Thev  know  nothinir  of  the  arts  of  smeltinir  or 
casting  metals. 

Gold  has  been  used  for  ornament  by  several  tribes 
which  could  not  melt  it,  but  could  shape  it  by  hammering. 
Meteoric  iron,  though  known  to  savages,  was  unman- 
ageable for  them.  From  barbarous  or  civilized  visitors, 
many  African  tribes  have  learned  the  arts  of  smelting 
and  forging  iron,  but  its  possession  has  not  sufficed  to 
raise  them  out  of  tJie  general  customs  of  savagism. 


lib  A   HISTORY   OF   MANKIND. 

Sec.  55,  Industrial  Achievements. — Having  thus  con- 
sidered the  industry  of  savages  in  its  details,  let  us  look 
back  for  a  comprehensive  idea  of  their  contributions  to 
the  useful  arts.  They  made  themselves  familiar  with  the 
habits  of  animals  and  the  qualities  of  plants  and  miner- 
als. They  tried  every  kind  of  stone  to  see  whether  it 
would  make  good  knives,  and  every  kind  of  wood  to 
find  whether  it  would  do  for  kindling  sticks,  bows,  spears 
and  canoes;  and  every  kind  of  fibre  to  make  twine. 
They  discovered  the  palatable  and  nutritious  character 
of  all  the  products  now  used  as  food.  By  cooking,  soak- 
ing, or  grating  and  pressing,  they  converted  many  vege- 
tables, naturally  poisonous,  into  wholesome  food.  They 
invented  all  the  main  processes  of  cooking.  They  grilled, 
baked,  boiled,  and  stewed.  They  preserved  food  by  dry- 
ing, smoking,  salting,  freezing,  covering  with  melted  fat, 
and  by  burying  in  the  ground.  They  prepared  hard 
seeds  for  food  by  grinding  in  mortars,  and  by  soaking. 
We  owe  the  idea  but  not  the  modern  pattern  of  mill, 
oven  and  cooking  pot  to  our  savage  ancestors. 

They  observed  the  stimulant  or  sedative  quality  in 
every  narcotic  plant  now  in  use.  They  are  possibly 
and  in  most  cases  certainly  entitled  to  the  credit  or  dis- 
credit of  first  making  use  of  tobacco,  betel,  opium, 
hasheesh,  coca,  kola-nut,  ava,  Kamtschatkan  fungus, 
mate,  cocoa,  coffee,  and  tea.  One  of  the  latest  of  these 
narcotics  to  come  into  use  was  coffee,  which  began  to 
attract  attention  in  the  Middle  Ages  among  the  Arabians, 
who  heard  of  it  from  the  Abyssinans,  and  they  were 
induced  to  try  it  by  a  traveler  from  Central  or  Western 
Africa,  who  while  there  had  tasted  a  decoction  made 
from  a  similar  bean  but  of  different  species.  The  Swiss 
pile  dwellers  in  the  stone  age  drank  warm  decoctions, 


SEC.    55.    INDUSTRIAL    ACHIEVEMENTS.  Ill 

and  it  is  possible,  though  not  proved,  that  the  Paraguay-' 
ans  did  so  too  before  the  time  of  Columbus.  Savages 
extracted,  by  chewing  from  raw  leaves  and  seeds,  a  little 
of  those  stimulating  alkaloids  which  we  obtain,  in  greater 
quantity  and  more  palatable  form,  by  steeping  in  hot 
water. 

They  learned  how  to  make  and  to  polish  edge  tools 
of  stone,  and  in  every  region  they  used  the  stone  that 
combined  in  the  highest  degree,  the  qualities  of  desira- 
ble fracture  with  toughness.  They  perceived  the  value 
of  missile  weapons  which  should  strike  at  a  distance,  and 
they  devised  unsurpassed  patterns  for  the  arrow,  the 
spear,  the  throw-club,  and  the  sling-stone.  They  pre- 
served the  aim  of  the  spear  and  the  arrow  by  giving 
them  a  whirling  motion.  They  attached  a  loose  point  to 
the  spear  for  fish  and  aquatic  mammals,  so  that  the  shaft 
should  not  be  broken,  and  that  it  should  offer  the  great- 
est possible  resistance  to  the  escape  of  the  wounded  ani- 
mal. They  gave  greater  impetus  to  the  spear  by  using 
a  sling  or  throw-stick,  and  to  the  axe  by  fastening  it  on 
a  handle,  thus  gaining  an  advantage  similar  to  that  from 
a  prolongation  of  the  arm.  They  poisoned  the  head  of 
the  arrow  and  spear,  and  thus  got  game  which  would 
have  escaped  with  an  unpoisoned  wound. 

They  were  skillful  hunters  and  fishermen.  They 
invented  pit-falls,  nooses,  box-traps,  fences,  decoys  and 
disguises.  They  imitated  the  calls  of  the  game  animals 
with  wonderful  fidelity.  They  stalked  quadrupeds  by 
day  and  dazzled  them  with  fire  by  night.  They  attacked 
and  killed  the  lion,  tiger,  grizzly  bear,  hippopotamus, 
rhinoceros  and  elephant.  They  took  fish  with  hooks, 
seines,  hand  nets,  traps,  nooses,  harpoons,  and  poison. 
They  bated  their  hooks  with  worms,  meat,  and  genuine 


11^  A   HISTORY   OF   MANKIND. 

*and  imitation  flies  and  fish.  They  practiced  deception  on 
brutes  as  well  as  on  their  fellow-men.  Civilization  has 
added  much  to  the  implements  of  the  hunter  but  nothing 
to  his  skill. 

From  cold  and  heat,  from  rain  and  wind,  they  sought 
shelter  in  caves  and  hollow  trees  and  under  projecting 
ledges  of  rock.  Then  they  dug  holes  in  cliffs  and  steep 
banks  of  hard  earth  or  soft  stone;  made  shelters  of 
branches  or  mats  ;  and  afterward  advanced  to  the  con- 
struction of  huts.  They  covered  a  frame  of  light  poles 
with  thatch,  bark,  clay-smeared  wattle,  or  of  heavy  poles 
plastered  with  a  thick  layer  of  clay.  They  built  dome- 
shaped  huts  of  clay  or  hardened  snow.  They  drove 
piles  in  shallow  water  as  a  support  for  villages  relatively 
secure  acj-ainst  the  attacks  of  enemies. 

They  acquired  high  skill  in  making  mats.  They  tried 
the  bark  of  many  plants,  and  different  layers  of  the  bark 
so  that  they  might  reject  all  save  that  which  would  yield 
the  largest  and  toughest  fibre.  They  used  matting  for 
clothing,  bedding,  sacks,  shelter  and  sails.  They  made 
it  thick  like  fur,  and  thin  like  light  muslin.  They  also 
produced  somewhat  similar  fabrics  from  the  inner  bark 
of  certain  trees  by  beating  it  until  it  became  soft,  flexible 
and  suitable  for  clothing. 

The  art  of  making  baskets  arose  with  that  of  making 
mats.  Both  were  carried  to  high  excellence  by  rude 
savages.  A  little  later  was  the  discovery  that  a  long 
and  strong  cord  could  be  made  by  twisting  together 
many  short  pieces  of  animal  or  vegetable  fibres.  The 
vegetable  fibres,  having  been  previously  known  in  mat- 
ting, were  the  first  used  in  spinning,  and  were  found  to 
be  the  best  for  nets  and  cords  to  be  used  in  the  water. 
It  was  for  fishing  that  there  was  the  most  demand  for 


SEC.    55.    llSfDUStRIAL   ACHIEVEMENTS.  II3 

twine  among  savages.  After  twine  had  been  made,  it 
was  woven  into  cloth,  by  a  process  similar  to  that  in 
the  plaiting  of  mats. 

As  it  may  be  said  that  cloth  was  developed  out  of  the 
mat,  so  pottery  grew  out  of  the  basket.  A  basket  cov- 
ered with  clay  set  on  the  fire  to  heat  water,  turned  into 
a  piece  of  burned  pottery  which  proved  to  be  more  val- 
uable than  the  original  basket,  and  other  pots  were  made 
on  baskets  until  it  was  discovered  that  the  pot  could  be 
made  better  without  the  help  of  the  basket. 

They  learned  to  dress  skins  so  that  they  should  be  pli- 
able, soft,  warm,  and  valuable  for  clothing  and  bedding 
and  also  for  tent  covering.  Whether  they  discovered 
the  tanning  qualities  of  the  bark  of  the  oak  and  of  vari- 
ous other  trees  is  doubtful ;  perhaps  they  found  that 
they  could  dress  skins  with  less  labor  by  other  proc- 
esses. Certain  it  is  that,  for  many  purposes,  they  pre- 
fer the  leather  prepared  by  their  methods  to  that  from 
the  civilized  tanyards. 

The  lowest  phase  of  navigation  is  that  of  the  Austra- 
lian who  sits,  astride,  on  a  log,  and  propels  it  by  paddling 
with  hands  and  feet.  A  better  conveyance  is  the  raft  of 
reeds  on  which  the  aboriginal  Californian  crosses  San 
Francisco  Bay  or  some  of  its  tributary  waters.  A  step 
higher  is  the  log  canoe  with  square  ends,  and  a  great  im- 
provement is  made  on  that  conveyance  by  sharpening 
the  ends.  In  about  the  same  stage  of  development  with 
this  form,  are  the  canoes  made  of  bark,  mats  or  skins, 
stiffened  with  a  wooden  frame.  Much  higher  arc  the 
large  canoes  made  of  planks  sewed  together,  provided 
with  outriggers,  masts  and  sails,  and  capable  of  carrying 
fifty  or  a  hundred  persons  on  long  voyages. 

Savages  tilled  the  soil.     They  loosened  it  with  a  dig- 
8 


il4  A    HISTORY  OF   MAiSfKIND. 

ging  stick,  a  hoe,  or  a  rudimentary  spade.  They  cidti- 
vated  cereals,  legumes,  tubers,  and  fruit  trees.  They 
introduced  valuable  plants  into  regions  far  from  their 
indigenous  habitats.  They  observed  the  superior  fitness 
of  certain  soils  for  certain  plants  and  by  putting  manure, 
sand,  ashes,  or  muck  on  their  fields,  they  got  better  crops. 
They  irrigated  and  flooded  their  land.  They  allowed 
their  fields  to  rest,  and  thus  in  a  certain  sense  rotated 
their  crops. 

They  domesticated  all  the  animals  of  much  value  to 
man.  They  began  with  pets  of  many  kinds ;  then  do- 
mesticated the  dog,  then  the  pig,  and  finally  the  sheep, 
goat,  cow,  horse,  camel,  buffalo,  reindeer,  ass,  duck, 
goose,  and  chicken.  They  taught  the  dog  and  reindeer 
to  draw  sleds,  the  horse,  ass,  cow,  buffalo  and  camel  to 
carry  burdens,  and  the  sheep,  goat,  cow,  camel,  rein- 
deer and  buffalo  to  stand  still  to  be  milked.' 

They  differentiated  occupations.  They  had  classes  of 
men  who  devoted  their  time  exclusively  to  boat  build- 
ing, knife  making,  fishing,  and  tilling  the  soil.  They 
had  a  traffic  of  barter,  and  used  domestic  animals  a's  a 
medium  of  exchange.  They  had  periodical  fairs  and 
made  long  voyages  to  attend  them. 

When  we  take  into  account  the  circumstances  in 
which  they  lived,  the  frequent  famines,  the  bitter  wars, 
and  the  other  dangers  to  which  they  were  frequently 
exposed;  when  we  keep  in  mind  their  lack  of  metal,  of 
letters  and  of  scientific  knowledge;  when  we  think  of  all 
these  drawbacks,  it  seems  wonderful  that  they  should 
have  achieved  so  much.  If  all  the  inhabitants  of  an 
English  village  containing  a  thousand  adult  men  were,  in 
our  time,  set  down  without  tools  or  books  in  an  island 
such  as  England  was  before  men  occupied  it,  and  had  no 


SEC.    56.    INDUSTRIAL   DEVELOPMENT.  II5 

communication  with  other  men,  many  years  would  elapse 
before  they  or  their  descendants  would  live  as  securely 
and  comfortably  as  many  savages  did. 

Sec.  56.  Industnal  Development. — Archaeology  is  a 
witness  that  culture  has  steadily  advanced.  Wherever 
the  remains  of  the  habitations,  implements  and  food  of 
man  have  been  found  in  the  strata  deposited  in  a  remote 
age,  whether  in  the  drift,  gravel  or  caves,  or  in  village 
mounds,  there  the  earlier  the  date  of  deposit,  the  ruder 
and  simpler  the  life.  In  no  continent  have  the  products 
of  the  modern  inhabitants  generally  been  ruder  than 
those  of  its  occupants  in  the  remote  past.  The  aborig- 
inal Australians  of  the  last  century  had  no  tillage  or 
polished  stone,  and  there  is  no  reason  to  believe  that 
either  was  known  to  the  Australians  of  preceding  ages. 
Bronze  and  iron  were  not  known  to  the  Redmen  east  of 
the  Mississippi  in  the  last  century  nor  at  any  earlier  time. 
When  Columbus  discovered  the  New  World,  the  Aztecs 
and  Quichuans  had  no  iron,  nor  was  it  known  to  their 
ancestors  or  predecessors.  The  Gauls  and  Britons  who 
submitted  to  Caesar  were  as  far  advanced  in  culture  as 
any  people  who  had  occupied  the  same  regions  before 
them.  No  remains  of  a  printing  press,  steam  engine, 
railroad  or  magnetic  telegraph  has  been  found  in  the 
excavations  of  ancient  cities  or  mounds  in  any  part  of 
the  globc.^ 

If  the  tunnels,  the  embankments,  the  deep  cuts,  the 
roads  cut  into  the  sides  of  cliffs,  the  mine  excavations, 
the  canals,  the  sea-walls,  and  the  walls  of  brick,  and 
stone,  and  mortar,  made  within  the  last  eighty  years, — if 
all  these  should  be  abandoned  to-morrow  to  the  corrod- 
ing and  eroding  and  other  destructive  forces  of  nature  for 
two  thousand  years,  after  the  lapse  of  so  long  a  period, 


Il6         '  A   HISTORY   OF   MANKIND. 

they  would  still  be  plainly  visible,  and  then  would  far 
surpass  in  magnitude  and  significance  everything  that 
we  now  know  as  prehistoric  remains 

Etymology  is  another  witness  against  retrogression. 
Her  evidence  is  complex  and  weighty.  She  has  word 
lists  in  hundreds  of  tongues  all  indicating  the  advance  of 
man  from  a  simple  to  a  complex  life,  from  concrete  to 
abstract  ideas,  from  low  to  high  industry.  The  English 
word  "  pecuniary  "  takes  us  back  to  the  time  when  not 
metallic  coin  but  the  cow  was  the  chief  medium  of  com- 
mercial exchange.  The  English  word  "  estimate  "  is  the 
survival  of  a  period  when  a  thing  was  worth  so  much  in 
"  aes  "  or  bronze.  The  Basque  word  for  knife  is  a  rem- 
nant of  a  period  when  the  common  edge  tools  were  of 
stone.  Philosophy  is  full  of  such  traces  of  lower  culture, 
and  contains  no  evidence  of  retrogression.  If  we  had  no 
other  proof,  a  comparison  of  the  French,  Spanish,  Italian, 
Portuguese  and  Roumanian  tongues,  all  daughters  of  the 
Latin,  would  suffice  to  convince  us  that  the  ancient 
Romans  had  no  printing  press,  no  steam  engine,  no 
railroad,  no  steamboat,  no  sawmill,  no  rolling  mill,  no 
chemical  analysis.  As  the  modern  romance  tongues 
came  from  the  Latin,  so  the  Sanscrit,  Persian,  Greek, 
Latin,  Celtic,  Slavonic,  and  Teutonic  tongues  come  from 
an  early  Aryan  language,  which  was  lacking,  as  we  know 
from  a  comparison  of  the  derivative  tongues,  in  many  of 
the  ideas  and  comforts  of  Greek  civilization.  Even  our 
alphabet  contains  survivals  of  a  period  when  men  not 
having  yet  devised  letters,  wrote  with  hieroglyphics. 
Our  A  was  once  the  picture  of  an  ox ;  and  if  we  extend 
its  cross-piece  on  each  side  and  turn  it  upside  down  we 
have  the  rudely  drawn  head  of  the  ox  with  ears  and 
horns. 


SEC.    56'.    INDUSTRIAL    DEVELOPMENT.  11/ 

The  oldest  records,  including  the  papyrus  rolls  and 
monumental  inscriptions  of  Egypt,  the  clay  tablets  of 
Assyria  and  Babylonia,  the  Vedas,  the  Avesta  and  the 
Pentateuch  abound  with  evidence,  that  in  the  times 
when  they  were  written,  culture  was  much  ruder  than  at 
present  in  all  the  main  departments  of  life.  There  was 
no  coined  money;  traffic  was  unimportant;  bronze  was 
the  most  common  metal ;  crime  was  punished  by  retal- 
iation ;  adult  males  captured  in  battle  were  slain  ;  women 
and  children  captives  were  enslaved;  and  in  religion, 
sacrifices,  idolatry  and  polytheism  were  prominent. 

A  few  cases  of  retrogression  in  human  society  are 
known,  but  they  are  so  few,  so  relatively  small,  so  un- 
important in  the  general  history  of  culture,  and  so  plainly 
traceable  to  causes  of  limited  influence,  that  they  may  be 
considered  as  illustrations  of  the  general  principle  of 
advancement.  The  Bakalahari  tribe  in  South  Africa  lost 
their  cattle  in  war  and  are  now  poorer  and  lower  in  cul- 
ture than  were  their  ancestors,  several  generations  since.^ 
Some  Tungoos  communities  of  Northeastern  Asia  hav- 
ing lost  their  herds  of  reindeer,  and  some  Kalmucks  hav- 
ing lost  their's  of  cows,  have  been  compelled  to  live  with 
less  comfort,  by  fishing.*  Some  Snake  Indians  west  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains  have  been  driven  by  stronger  tribes 
from  hunting  grounds  which  their  forefathers  occupied, 
and  so  have  been  compelled  to  depend  on  smaller  game 
for  subsistence.*  In  Mesopotamia,  Morocco,  Algiers, 
Tunis,  Syria,  Central  America,  Cambodia  and  Java  the 
buildings  of  .several  later  centuries  are  decidedly  inferior, 
in  magnitude,  durability  and  architectural  skill,  to  those 
erected  there  in  the  remote  past.  The  overthrow  of  the 
Roman  empire  was  accompanied  by  a  great  decline  in 
literature  and  ornamental  art  over  a  large  part  of  Europe. 


1 1 8  A   HISTORY   OF   MANKIND. 

But  in  all  these  cases,  the  decay  in  one  place,  or  in  some 
departments  of  life,  is  insufficient  to  prove  a  general 
retrogression  for  even  a  brief  period.  Even  in  the  Dark 
Ages,  culture  continued  her  general  onward  march. 

Sec.  57.  Natural  Progress. — By  a  large  accumulation 
of  evidence  from  many  different  sources,  history  shows 
that  savage  industry  was  originated  and  developed 
through  its  whole  course  by  man's  innate  capacity ;  and 
that  this  development  was  governed  by  natural  and  uni- 
form laws,  which  were  the  same  as  those  which  have 
been  observed  in  barbarous  and  civilized  life 

In  preceding  sections  we  considered  the  different 
phases  in  the  arts  of  tillage,  spinning,  pottery,  navigation 
and  the  domestication  of  animals.  We  found  that  these 
phases  have  every  appearance  of  being  the  successive 
steps  in  the  slow  and  gradual  development  of  skill,  under 
influences  similar  to  those  which  we  observe  at  work  in 
the  industrial  progress  of  our  own  time.  Many  of  the 
products  of  human  labor  are  intelligible  with  and  not 
without  the  theory  of  natural  growth. 

Let  us  now  consider  the  origin  of  one  of  the  most 
ingenious  and  important  products  of  civilized  industry, 
the  steam  engine.  It  drives  other  machines ;  unlike 
them  generally,  it  is  power-producing  rather  than  a 
labor-saving  invention.  If  there  be  any  possession  of 
man  that  by  the  mightiness  of  its  power,  by  the  magni- 
tude of  its  size,  the  complexity  of  its  construction,  the 
abstruseness  (to  the  savage  mind)  of  the  principles  on 
which  it  is  constructed,  the  precision  with  which  its  parts 
are  adapted  to  one  another,  and  the  vastness  of  its  influ- 
ence on  life; — if  there  be  any  industrial  possession  of 
man  that  would  deserve  to  be  considered  a  supernatural 
production,  it  would  assuredly  be  a  steam  engine  of  188^. 


SEC.    57.    NATURAL    PROGRESS.  1 19 

Aiid  such  the  AustraHan  or  the  Arab  has  often 
beheved  it  to  be ;  but  not  so  the  civiHzed  man,  who 
knows  the  history  of  the  invention  and  of  its  inventors, 
of  the  experiments,  disappointments,  trials,  toils  and 
numerous  improvements,  many  small  and  some  great, 
made  by  those  men  who  have  contributed  to  produce 
this  great  machine.  The  record  of  the  development  of 
this  marvel  of  industrial  genius  is  within  reach  of  all ;  it 
shows  an  unbroken  series  of  natural  steps,  without  any 
commencement,  or  subsequent  interruption,  by  a  super- 
natural jump.  The  steam  engine  is  natural  not  only  in 
its  origin  but  also  in  its  method  of  working.  It  demands 
food  or  fuel,  and  fresh  air,  and  these  must  be  combined 
In  active  combustion,  with  a  development  of  heat  which 
is  converted  into  mechanical  power  in  strict  proportion 
to  the  amount  of  fuel  consumed  and  heat  evolved,  in 
accordance  with  physical  laws . 

Other  great  products  of  human  genius,  inferior  to  the 
steam  engine  in  some  respects,  but  nevertheless  marvel- 
ous, are  the  puddling  furnace,  the  rolling  mill,  the  Besse- 
mer converter,  the  steam  spinning  jenny,  the  steam 
loom,  the  steamboat,  the  railway,  and  the  electric  tele- 
graph, each  of  which  was  the  result  of  long  studies  and 
numerous  experiments.  If  we  be  convinced  that  all  these 
are  the  natural  products  of  the  human  mind,  consistency 
will  require  us  to  believe  that  the  simpler,  smaller,  and 
less  efficient  implements  of  our  prehistoric  ancestors  had 
a  like  natural  origin.  Besides,  it  does  not  agree  with 
our  ideas  of  divine  dignity  that  the  gift  of  the  gods 
should  be  superseded  by  the  superior  device  of  man. 
If  Neptune  had  given  the  pattern  and  rig  of  the  ancient 
galley  to  the  Greeks,  he  would  have  kept  up  his  credit 
by  building  the  modern  schooner,  ship  and  steamship. 


I20  A   HISTORY   OF   MANKIND. 

If  Ceres  had  made  the  first  hoe,  she  would  also  have 
made  the  first  iron  plough.  If  she  had  made  the  flail,  she 
would  also  have  invented  the  threshing  machine.  The 
gods  do  not  give  such  gifts  to  us,  nor  did  they  give 
inferior  ones  to  our  ancestors. 

By  his  wants  and  his  surroundings,  man  is  compelled 
to  work ;  and  by  his  intellectual  constitution  he  is  stim- 
ulated and  enabled  to  devise  methods  of  making  his 
labor  more  convenient  and  efficient.  There  is  no  end  to 
his  improvements,  and  every  one  in  its  turn  is  prized, 
copied,  and  made  the  base  of  new  improvement.  The 
ingenuity  of  one  becomes  the  treasure  of  all.  An  art  of 
value  to  the  multitude,  and  once  widely  known  among 
them,  has  never  been  lost.  No  large  branch  of  industry 
became  perfect  or  reached  its  present  stage  of  develop- 
ment among  savages. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

SOCIAL  LIFE, 

Sec.  58.  Promiscuous  Group. — Among  savages  gen- 
erally, life  is  made  insecure  by  frequent  warfare;  and  as 
a  rule,  the  lower  the  culture,  the  greater  the  insecurity. 
It  was  unsafe  for  the  pri  iiitix-e  man  to  dwell  at  a  distance 
from  friends.  Regard  for  his  own  safety,  compelled  him 
to  make  his  home  with  others  in  a  group,  bound  together 
by  the  obligation  of  mutual  defense.  All  the  non-tilling 
and  most  of  the  tilling  tribes  known  to  civilized  observa- 
tion consist  of  small  defensive  groups,  which  we  may 
presume  are  the  successors  of  groups  organized,  for  the 
purpose  of  protecting  their  members,  in  the  beginning  of 
human  society. 

There  is  reason  to  believe  that  for  thousands  of  years 
and  over  a  large  part  of  the  earth,  in  the  primitive 
defensive  groups,  all  the  men  were  common  husbands 
and  all  the  women  common  wives.  There  was  no  idea 
of  the  relationship  of  uncle,  nephew,  father-in-law,  son-in- 
law  or  brother-in-law,  or  of  their  feminine  equivalents, 
and  of  course,  without  tlic  ideas,  there  were  no  words  to 
express  them.  Tlie  cliild  gave  the  name  of  father  to 
every  man  in  the  grouj)  or  village;  and  in  return,  the 
man  called  every  boy,  son.     The  m.iternal    relation  was 

(121) 


122  A    HISTORY    OF   MANKIND. 

of  course  as  well  known  then  as  at  any  later  time,  but  it 
did  not  find  so  distinct  a  recognition  in  common  speech. 
Every  woman  was  called  mother  by  all  the  children,  and 
every  child  was  called  son  or  daughter  by  all  the  moth- 
ers. There  was  no  word  to  describe  a  collateral  relation- 
ship or  to  convey  the  idea  of  exclusive  sexual  possession. 
The  only  relationships  recognized  in  common  speech 
were  fraternal  and  parental,  including  brother,  sister, 
parent,  grandparent,  great-grandparent,  child,  grand- 
child and  great-grandchild.  In  all  these  cases  the  blood 
was  traced  exclusively  through  the  mother.  Paternity 
was  considered  too  uncertain  to  be  taken  into  account  in 
the  pedigree.  There  was  no  word  for  husband,  save  man  ; 
none  for  wife,  save  woman. ^ 

In  the  course  of  time,  the  promiscuous  or  consanguine 
group  was  overthrown  by  influences  ascertainable  only 
by  inference.  Bachofen  believes  that  the  main  cause  was 
the  sentiment  of  the  women  against  intercourse  with 
brothers ;  '^  but  this  explanation  is  improbable  when  we 
remember  that  no  such  feeling  prevented  the  marriage 
of  full  brother  and  sister  in  the  royal  families  of  the 
Quichuans,  and  ancient  Egyptians  and  Persians,  in  bar- 
barous culture ;  nor  of  the  half  brother  and  sister,  chil- 
dren of  the  same  father,  in  many  countries,  including 
some  in  civilized  culture. 

Peschel  attributes  the  reform  to  the  conviction  that 
long  interbreeding  has  a  pernicious  effect  on  the  physi- 
cal and  mental  constitution  of  humanity,  and  even  pre- 
vents continuous  fertilization  ;  ^  but  this  explanation,  like 
the  preceding  one,  is  not  in  harmony  with  customs 
that  have  been  long  maintained  over  extensive  areas. 
According  to  Lubbock,  the  promiscuous  group  was 
overthrown  by  the  men  who  wanted  wives  as  exclusive 


SEC.    58.    PROMISCUOUS    GROUP.  1 23 

possessions  and  as  trophies  of  their  mihtary  prowess ; 
and  having  got  these  by  capturing  women  from  other 
groups,  they  gradually  adopted  the  opinion  that  it  was 
discreditable  to  take  wives  among  the  women  of  their 
own  villages.*  This  theory  is  however  unsatisfactory  on 
many  points,  and  especially  in  these  that  after  the  over- 
throw of  the  consanguine  group,  the  husband  did  not 
take  his  wife  into  his  village  but  he  went  into  hers,  and 
that  he  went  for  his  wife  not  to  a  hostile  tribe  but  to  a 
friendly  clan. 

The  promiscuous  group  was  a  scene  of  continuous 
quarreling  between  brothers  and  sisters  in  the  presence 
of  fathers  and  mothers  who  were  called  upon  and  could 
not  refuse  to  interfere.  There  was  only  one  remedy  for 
this  evil  and  that  was  that  the  man  should  marry,  in 
another  village;  and  as  the  idea  of  sexual  exclusiveness 
had  not  obtained  a  strong  foothold,  and  was  perhaps 
without  any  influence  on  the  majority  of  the  community, 
the  only  safe  plan  for  the  man  was  to  leave  his  native 
village  and  make  his  home  in  another  where  all  the 
women  belonged  to  a  different  stock. 

The  first  change  from  the  consanguine  group  was  a 
prohibition  of  matrimonial  relationship  between  all  per- 
sons descended  from  a  common  mother  in  the  female  line. 
This  was  the  basis  of  the  feminine  clan,  to  be  considered 
hereafter.  The  second  change  was  that  the  head  chief 
required  his  wife  or  wives  to  be  true  to  him,  as  among 
some  Polynesians  and  troglodytes,^  while  the  other 
women  were  subject  to  little  restriction.  The  tiiird 
reform  was  that  nobody  but  a  relative  or  guest  of  the 
husband  was  entitled  to  the  wife'.s  favor,  as  in  many 
Arab  tribes.®  Many  other  customs  relating  to  the  wed- 
ding day,^  and  to  the  collection  of  a  dowry,  found  in  Egypt, 


124  A    HISTORY   OF    MANKIND. 

Libya,  Quichuan  Peru  and  Hindostan,^  must  be  consid- 
ered survivals  of  the  consanguine  group.  In  Babylon, 
every  woman  before  marriage  was  required  to  make  a 
sacrifice  in  the  grove  of  the  temple  of  Astarte.®  Of  the 
Britons,  Caesar  wrote :  "  By  tens  and  twelves,  husbands 
possessed  their  wives  in  common,  and  especially  brothers 
with  brothers,  and  parents  with  children."^" 

Sec.  59.  Relationship  Nomenclature. — In  terms  of  kin- 
ship, the  most  primitive  language  known,  is  that  of 
the  Polynesian  island  of  Rotuma.  It  recognizes  no  col- 
lateral relation,  such  as  uncle,  nephew  or  cousin,  and  n6 
relation  by  affinity  save  brother-in-law  and  sister-in-law. 
To  his  mother's  brother,  the  Rotuman  gives  the  title  of 
father ;  to  his  father's  sister,  that  of  mother ;  to  her  son 
that  of  brother;  to  his  sister's  son,  that  of  son.  To  us, 
who  have  frequent  and  important  use  for  the  distinctive 
titles  of  uncle,  aunt,  nephew,  niece  and  cousin,  it  seems 
strange  that  people  could  have  done  without  words  for 
those  relations.  In  many  other  respects  the  language  of 
Rotuma  is  not  meager,  and  its  extreme  poverty  in  rela- 
tionship of  affinity  and  its  lack  of  all  terms  of  collateral 
kin,  is  inexplicable  upon  any  theory  save  that  of  the 
promiscuous  group. 

One  grade  higher  than  the  tongue  of  Rotuma  is  that 
of  Hawaii,  which  has  no  terms  for  collateral  relation,  but 
in  addition  to  those  of  brother-in-law  and  sister-in-law 
has  those  of  father-in-law  and  son-in-law,  with  their  fem- 
inine equivalents.  One  grade  higher  is  that  of  the 
Mohawks,  who  besides  having  brother-in-law,  father-in- 
law  and  son-in-law,  and  their  feminine  equivalents,  have 
the  word  uncle  to  designate  the  mother's  brother.  This 
term  is  not  given  to  the  father's  brother ;  for  he  is  still 
called  a  father,  as  in  the  consanguine  group,  and  his  rela- 


SEC.    59.    RELATIONSHIP    NOMENCLATURE.  1 25 

tion  to  the  woman  is  very  similar  to  that  in  the  earher 
social  condition.  After  Rotuman,  Hawaiian  and  Mo- 
hawk nomenclature,  we  come  to  a  fourth  stage  of  devel- 
opment in  the  Micmacs,  a  tribe  whose  remnant  is  now 
found  in  Eastern  Canada.  To  the  distinctive  terms  in 
the  lower  forms  of  speech,  they  have  added  uncle  for 
father's  brother  as  well  as  for  the  mother's,  and  nephew 
and  niece  for  some,  but  not  for  all,  children  of  broth- 
ers and  sisters.  Thus  to  the  man  his  brother's  sons,  and 
to  the  woman,  her  sister's  sons  are  her  only  nephews ; 
while  to  the  man,  his  sister's  sons,  and  to  the  woman  her 
brother's  sons  are  not  nephews  but  sons.  The  Bur- 
mese go  a  step  further  and  use  the  word  nephew  in  the 
same  sense  as  we  do.  The  sixth  step  is  that  of  the 
\V}'andots  who  use  the  word  cousin,  unknown  to 
Rotuma,  Hawaii,  Mohawk,  Micmac,  and  Burma,  but 
apply  it  not  as  we  do,  but  only  among  males  to  the 
mother's  brother's  son  and  to  the  father's  sister's  son, 
while  the  father's  brother's  son  and  the  mother's  sister's 
son  continue  to  be  brothers,  as  in  the  earlier  phases  of 
speech.  The  Karens  in  the  seventh  step  above  the  pro- 
miscuous group  give  the  title  of  cousins  to  the  children 
of  all  those  whom  we  call  uncles  and  aimts. 

The  Kingsmill  Islanders  have  the  same  nomenclature 
as  the  Hawaiians  ;  the  Oneidas  the  same  as  the  Mohawks ; 
the  Japanese  the  same  as  the  Burmese;  the  Senecas  the 
same  as  the  Wyandots  ;  and  the  Eskimos  the  same  as  the 
Karens.  All  these  tribes  give  the  title  of  grandfather  to 
the  grandfather's  brother ;  of  grandmother  to  the  grand- 
father's sister ;  of  grandson  to  the  brother's  son's  son, 
and  to  the  sister's  son's  son.  Since  in  the  consanguine 
group,  our  first  cousin  was  their  brolhcr,  and  retained 
that   title  among  the    Hawaiians  and  Mohawks;  so  in 


136  A    HISTORY   OF    MANKIND. 

those  tribes,  the  son  of  the  first  cousin  was  called  a  son, 
and  the  cousin's  grandson  was  called  a  grandson. 

According  to  the  development  of  speech  in  the  mat- 
ter of  relationship  nomenclature,  a  man  may  have  a 
dozen  fathers  and  no  uncle;  a  dozen  mothers  and  no 
aunt ;  a  dozen  grandfathers  and  no  grand  uncle ;  several 
uncles  who  have  sisters,  wives  and  children,  but  no  aunt 
or  cousin  ;  and  several  brothers  and  sisters  with  children, 
but  no  nephew  or  niece. 

In  certain  tribes  the  same  title  is  given  to  a  cousin's 
son  and  to  a  grandson  ;  and  in  Latin  as  in  some  romance 
languages  of  modern  Europe,  the  same  word  may  mean 
either  nephew  or  grandson,  as  it  did  in  England  three 
centuries  ago. 

The  appendix  contains  several  tables  presenting,  in 
tabular  form,  some  of  the  information  already  given  here 
about  relationship  nomenclature,  with  additional  evi- 
dences in  favor  of  the  theory  that,  at  one  time,  the  promis- 
cuous group  was  widely  prevalent,  if  not  universal  in 
human  society. 

By  comparing  as  to  certain  tribes,  the  titles  of  uncles 
and  aunts  with  those  of  their  children,  grandchildren, 
and  great-grandchildren,  Lubbock  found  that  out  of  two 
hundred  and  eleven  points  in  Morgan's  tables  of  con- 
sanguinity, two  hundred  and  seven  contain  evidence  of 
progress  from  the  promiscuous  group  to  the  modern 
family;  as  against  four  on  the  other  side.  The  evidences 
are  as  fifty  to  one.  Comparing  other  relationships, 
such  as  uncle  with  father,  aunt  with  mother,  granduncle 
with  grandfather,  grandaunt  with  grandmother,  nephew 
and  cousin  with  second  cousin,  and  grandnephew  with 
grandchild,  the  evidences  are  a  thousand  to  one. 

Sec.    6o.  Feminine     Clan. — From    the    promiscuous 


SEC.    60.    li'EMINiNE   CLAN.  lUf 

gfoup,  the  matrimonial  system  advanced  to  the  next 
higher  step,  the  feminine  clan,  which  traces  descent 
exclusively  through  the  mother,  forbids  the  man  to  have 
any  intimacy  with  a  woman  who  has  inherited  the  same 
blood  in  the  female  line,  and  requires  the  husband  to 
transfer  his  residence  to  the  village,  and  his  allegiance  to 
the  clan,  of  his  wife.  It  retains  all  its  daughters  and 
drives  away  all  its  sons.  The  women  are  its  only  per- 
manent element.  They  own  the  territory,  the  dwellings, 
the  furniture  and  the  food;  and  the  privilege  of  divorce 
belongs  to  them  and  to  them  exclusively.  The  husband 
may  abscond  but  he  cannot  drive  the  woman  from  the 
common  home.  A  clan  is  a  division  of  a  tribe  ;  and  in  a 
North  American  tribe  there  are  at  least  three  clans. 
While  all  the  women  of  the  clan  are  born  in  it,  all  their 
husbands  must  have  come  from  other  clans,  perhaps  six 
or  eight  others.  The  tribe  is  never  exogamous  ;  it  never 
compels  its  young  men  to  seek  wives  in  other  tribes. 
The  feminine  clan  prevails  among  the  Iroquois,  the 
Creeks  and  their  related  tribes,  the  Delawares,  the  Mun- 
cies,  the  Mohicans,  most  other  tribes  east  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, the  Mandans,  the  Otoes,  the  Minitarees,^  and  among 
most  of  the  Australians.  In  every  quarter  of  the  globe 
it  has  left  traces  of  its  former  prevalence. 

Wherever  the  feminine  clan  exists,  it  is  the  main  feat- 
ure of  the  social  and  political  organization.  It  claims 
the  highest  allegiance,  gives  the  most  efficient  protection, 
and  is  the  basis  of  the  only  common  worship.  In  the 
feminine  clan,  the  family  or  group  of  a  man  with  his  wife 
or  wives  and  children  has  not  attained  prominence  and 
influence.  So  far  as  there  is  an  inheritance,  the  clan  is 
the  chief  heir  of  its  dead  member,  taking  precedence  of 
brother,  nephew,  or  son.     Generally  in  the  feminine  clan 


12§  A    HISTORY    OF    MANKIND. 

the  man  is  supposed  to  have  only  one  wife,  but  the  rela- 
tions  are  very  loose  for  both  man  and  woman.  No 
marriages  or  sexual  intercourse  between  children  of  the 
clan  is  possible  without  incest ;  no  robbery  or  murder 
without  sacrilege.  No  homicide  by  an  outsider  can  be 
left  unavenged  without  disgrace.  A  man  owes  to  his 
fellow  clansmen,  and  to  them  alone,  fraternal  affection, 
cordiality,  fidelity,  and  mutual  helpfulness.  All  others 
are  beyond  the  protection  of  any  strong  obligations  of 
morality.  There  being  no  pedigree  in  the  male  line,  a 
man  can  marry  his  half-sister  on  the  father's  side  with- 
out offense  to  public  opinion  ;  and  the  maternal  uncle 
has  more  authority  over  his  nephew  than  has  the  boy's 
father  whose  claim  to  the  paternity  cannot  be  proved 
and,  according  to  the  general  custom  of  the  clan,  may  be 
very  doubtful. 

Sec.  6i.  Totem. — The  feminine  clan  comprises  the 
female  descendants,  in  the  direct  female  line,  from  a  com- 
mon ancestress,  and  also  all  those  male  descendants,  in 
the  same  line,  who  have  not  yet  married  into  another 
clan.  The  ancestress  called  the  totem,  is  divine,  and  the 
worship  of  her,  though  not  prominent,  is  one  of  the 
bonds  of  clan  union.  In  most  cases  she  was  a  brute  ;  in 
some  a  plant,  a  mineral  object,  or  a  meterological  phe- 
nomenon. The  savages  did  not  undertake  to  explain 
how  a  bear,  a  plum  or  a  flash  of  lightning  could  be  the 
mother  of  men.  They  accepted  the  assertion  as  a  matter 
of  tradition,  to  be  accepted  without  question.  The  mem- 
bers of  the  clan  venerate  not  only  their  mythical  ances- 
tress but  all  natural  objects  or  phenomena  of  her  class,  and 
treat  all  of  them  as  totems  of  the  clan.  Thus  not  only  the 
mythical  mother  black  bear  of  the  black  bear  clan  is 
sacred  to  all  its  members,  but  so  are  all  black  bears.     No 


( 


SEC.    01.    TOTEM.  1 29 

animal  of  that  species  must  be  killed  or  hurt  or  eaten, 
nor  approached  without  a  show  of  reverence.  The  name 
of  the  totem  is  the  name  of  every  member  of  the  clan. 
Thus  in  the  black  bear  clan,  every  boy  is  called  a  black 
bear,  and  he  has  besides  a  personal  name,  but  no  name 
inherited  from  his  father.  He  draws  the  figure  of  his 
totem  on  his  club,  canoe,  deerskin,  shield  or  tent,  or 
wears  it  tattooed  on  his  breast.  In  the  totem  clans  of 
America  and  Australia,  one  of  the  first  questions  to  be 
asked  when  strangers  meet  is  "  What  is  your  totem?  " ; 
and  from  their  replies,  they  know  their  relationship.  If 
of  the  same  totem,  they  are  brothers. 

At  Mt.  Gambler  and  presumably  in  other  parts  of 
Australia,  many  animals,  plants,  heavenly  bodies  and 
meteorological  phenomena,  not  recognized  as  totems, 
are  yet  recognized  by  the  aborigines  as  belonging  to 
certain  totems  and  sharing  their  sacredness  in  a  minor 
degree.  Thus  the  dog,  the  blackwood  tree,  fire,  and 
frost  belong  to  the  pelican  totem  ;  the  duck,  the  wallaby, 
the  owl  and  cra)'fish  to  the  tea  tree  totem ;  the  bustard, 
the  quail,  and  the  dolvich  to  the  murna  (a  plant)  totem. 

The  average  number  of  clans  in  the  tribes  east  of  the 
Mississippi  is  perhaps  eight.  The  Chippeways  have 
twenty-three  ;  the  Creeks  twenty-two  ;  the  Pottawatomies 
fifteen ;  the  Senecas,  Cayugas,  Onondagas,  Tuscaroras, 
and  Choctas  each,  eight,  the  Oneidas  and  Mohawks 
each  three.  Among  the  totems  of  the  Creeks  are  wolf, 
alligator,  cougar,  bear,  deer,  fox,  skunk,  raccoon,  wild- 
cat, toad,  hickory-nut  and  maize.'  The  Chippeways  have 
five  kinds  of  fish,  three  kinds  of  tortoise,  eight  kinds  of 
bird,  eight  kinds  of  quadruped  and  one  of  snake.  The 
Pawnees  west  of  the  Mississippi,  have  buffalo,  beaver, 
deer,  eagle,  and  owl.' 

9 


130  A   HISTORY   OF   MANKIND. 

In  many  tribes,  besides  the  clan  there  is  a  grand-clan 
or  association  of  clans,  reminding  us  of  the  "  curia  "  or 
grand-clan  of  the  Romans  and  the  "phratria"  or  grand- 
clan  of  the  Greeks.  It  seems  to  have  been  formed  out 
of  a  clan  which  grew  so  large  that  convenience  demanded 
a  subdivision.  The  Mohicans  have  wolf,  turtle,  and  tur- 
key, grand-clans  ;  the  first  comprising  the  wolf,  bear,  dog 
and  opossum  clans  ;  the  second  comprising  the  little  tur- 
tle, mud  turtle,  great  turtle  and  yellow  eel ;  and  the  last 
the  turkey,  crane  and  grouse  clans.  The  functions  of 
the  grand-clan  are  mainly  ceremonial,  including  the  pres- 
ervation of  peace  among  its  subordinate  clans. 

Sec.  62.  Australian  Exogamy. — A  large  part  of  Aus- 
tralia is  occupied  by  feminine  clans  with  sacred  totems, 
supreme  allegiance  and  the  obligation  of  mutual  defense, 
as  in  North  America ;  and  besides  with  peculiar  subdi- 
visions, limiting  the  right  of  marriage.  These  subdivis- 
ions extend  through  many  tribes,  some  of  them  separated 
by  a  thousand  miles  of  distance,  as  well  as  by  ignorance  of 
each  other's  speech.  By  gestures  however  they  can  ascer- 
tain their  relationship  in  the  clan  and  subdivision  of  the 
clan,  the  first  points  of  inquiry  among  them  when  they 
meet  as  strangers.  These  Australian  classes  are  the  high- 
est development  of  the  exogamic  principle,  but  under  their 
influence  there  is  less  approach  towards  monogamous 
life  than  in  North  America.^ 

Some  tribes  have  two  and  some  four  of  these  classes. 
A  tribe  at  Mt.  Gambler  has  two  clans  each  of  which  has 
two  classes,  the  Kumite  and  the  Kroki.  In  the  former 
the  man  is  Kumite  and  the  woman  Kumitegor ;  in  the 
latter  the  man  is  Kroki  and  the  woman  Krokigor.  The 
final  "  gor "  is  a  feminine  termination.  The  Kumite 
must  mate  with  a  Krokigor  of  the  other  clan  and  all  her 


SEC.    62.    AUSTRALIAN  EXOGAMY.  l^I 


children  are  Krokis  and  Krokigors.  Her  son  Kroki 
must  mate  with  a  Kumitegor  of  the  other  clan. 

The  Kamilaroi  tribe  has  six  clans,  of  which  three 
(Iguana,  Kangaroo  and  Opossum)  have  the  Muri 
(female  Matha)  and  Kubi  (female  Kubitha)  classes ;  and 
the  other  three  (Emu,  Blacksnake  and  Bandicoot)  have 
the  Kumbu  (female  Butha)  and  the  Ipai  (female  Ipatha) 
classes.  There  are  thus  six  clans  and  four  classes  in  the 
tribe.  The  name  of  the  feminine  class  is  derived  from 
that  of  the  masculine  class,  with  or  without  other 
change,  by  adding  the  feminine  termination  "  tha." 

In  the  widely  separated  regions  of  Queensland,  West 
Australia,  Central  Australia  and  Herbert  River  Valley, 
various  tribes  have  the  same  four  classes ;  but  perhaps, 
in  the  whole  continent,  a  greater  number  of  tribes  have 
only  two  classes.  In  the  four-class  tribes,  the  man  is 
limited  in  the  choice  of  a  wife  to  a  single  class.  Thus 
Muri  nmst  mate  with  Butha;  Kubi  wih  Ipatha;  Kumbu 
with  Matha ;  and  Ipai  with  Kubitha.  The  child  never 
belongs  to  the  class  of  either  father  or  mother,  but 
always  to  her  clan.  The  sons  and  daughters  of  Kubitha 
are  Muris  and  Mathas ;  those  of  Matha  are  Kubis  and 
Kubithas ;  those  of  Butha  are  Ipais  and  Ipathas ;  those 
of  Ipatha  are  Kumbus  and  Buthas.  Ipatha  is  the 
mother  of  Butha  and  Butha  of  Ipatha.  A  similar  alter- 
nation appears  in  the  classes  of  father  and  son.  The 
system  is  so  arranged  that  the  blood  of  the  tribe  shall 
flow  continuously  and  evenly  through  all  the  classes. 
Thus,  Kumbu's  children  are  Kubis ;  his  grandchildren, 
through  his  daughter,  are  Muris;  and  his  great-grand- 
children, through  his  daughter's  son,  are  Ipais.  In  four 
generations,  each  of  the  four  classes  is  represented. 

The  class    has  no    distinctive   totem  nor  duties  of  a 


132  A    HISTORY    OF    MANKIND. 

political  or  religious  character;  it  is  exclusively  a  limita- 
tion, with  correlative  privilege,  in  the  sexual  relations.^ 

Sec.  6^.  Fcniininc    Clan    Survivals. — Many  countries 
which  have  not  had  the  feminine  clan  in  historical  times, 
yet  have  traces  of  it  in  their  customs  or  traditions.     The 
totem,  one    of  its  peculiar  features,  is   found   in  many 
African^    and    Dyak  tribes;^   and  it    reminds  us  of  the 
brute  deities  of  the  districts  of  ancient  Egypt,  where  the 
sister's   son    inherited   the  office    of  district   prefect,  in 
accordance  with  a  rule  inherited  from  very  early  times.^ 
Inheritance  in  the  female  line  prevailed  in  the  chieftain- 
ship of  the  ancient  Picts,*  as  it  does  now  in  that  of  the 
Batta   Malays,''  Tongans,^  Ashantees,  Mandingoes   and 
Loangoes,'  and  in  the  transmission  of  property  among 
the  Berbers,  the  Malagasies,  the  Bantars  of  Hindostan, 
the  Wamoima,  some  Nubians,  the  Angolese,*  the  Island 
Malays,®  the  Marquesans,  the  Tahitians  and  the  Fijians. 
Both  rank    and   property    descend   to    the    sister's    son 
among  the  Bangalas  and  many  Micronesian  tribes.     Rela- 
tionship is  traced  mainly  in  the  feminine  line  among  the 
Kasias,  Kocchs,    Nairs,  Malabars  and  Padang    Malays. 
The  Banyars  have  elective  chiefs,  the  choice  usually  fall- 
ing on  the  sister's  son  of  the  predecessor,'"  and  a  similar 
rule  prevailed  in  electing  the  emperor  of  the  Aztecs. '^ 
The  Kasia  husband  moves  to  the  house  of  the  wife;  and 
among  the  Scandinavian  Lapps  in  the  last  century,  the 
newly-married  man  had  to  live  for  a  year  with  his  father- 
in-law.     The  modern  Chinaman  who  has  migrated  to  a 
remote  country  sends  his  savings   to  his  mother,  rather 
than  to  his  wife.     In  ancient  Spain,  the  Iberian  daughters 
inherited  all  the  property  of  the  family  and  provided  for 
the  sons. 

In  Fiji,  the  eldest  son  of  the  eldest  sister  can  go  to  the 


SEC.    63.    FEMININE    CLAN    SURVIVALS.  1 33 

village  of  the  chief  who  is  his  maternal  uncle  and  there 
take  anvthins;'  save  the  wives,  and  house  of  the  chief 
He  is  the  heir  of  the  whole  village  and,  when  he  pays  a 
visit,  must  be  received  with  great  festivity .^^  Among  the 
Kaffirs  and  many  tribes  of  Eastern  Africa,  the  maternal 
uncle  has  more  authority  over  the  child  than  the  father; 
and  among  the  Bondas'^  and  Kimbondas^*  he  has  exclu- 
sive power  to  sell  his  maternal  nephew  or  niece.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  Bondas  hold  the  nephew  responsible  for 
the  crimes  and  debts  of  his  maternal  uncle. '^  Various 
traces  of  feminine  descent  are  found  among  the  Senegal 
Moors  and  the  Guajuro  Indians  of  South  America.'" 
In  the  Egyptian  and  Etruscan  tombs,  the  name  of  the 
dead  man's  mother,  not  of  his  father,  is  given  ;''  and  in 
the  Hebrew  book  of  Chronicles,  the  name  of  the  king's 
mother  is  associated  with  his,  as  if  she  were  the  second 
person  in  authority.  The  king's  mother  is  prominent  in 
Burma,  Ashantee,  Magira,  Bagirmi  and  Madai. 

Aristotle  remarked  that  the  most  warlike  tribes  were 
under  the  rule  of  women,  and  among  them  he  included, 
presumably,  the  Celts,  the  Scythians  and  the  Thracians, 
who  had  survivals  of  the  feminine  clan,  and  had  women 
noted  for  courage.  In  the  time  of  Tacitus,  the  Teutonic 
Sithoncs  had  women  chiefs  ;  and  among  the  Teutons 
generally,  the  best  hostage,  for  the  good  conduct  of  a 
ruler,  was  not  his  son,  but  the  son  of  his  sister.  The 
Lycians  of  Asia  Minor  derived  ihcir  pedigree  and  took 
their  name  from  the  mother  exclusively.  Among  the 
Southern  Slavonians  of  this  century,  the  chief  obligation 
of  avenging  a  murder  rests  not  on  the  father,  but  on  the 
brother  or  maternal  uncle.'*  Among  the  Arabs  and  the 
Gonds,  the  young  man  has  a  jjrior  right  to  marry  the 
daughter  of  his  paternal  uncle;    whereas  it   would   be 


134  A    HISTORY    OF    MANKIND. 

improper  for  him  to  solicit  the  hand  of  a  cousin  on  his 
mother's  side.  The  greater  sacredness  of  the  maternal 
relationship  is  a  survival  of  exclusive  feminine  descent. 
So  also  is  the  rule  requiring  the  monarch  in  ancient 
Egypt  and  Persia,  in  modern  Quichuan  Peru,  Madagas- 
car and  various  African  countries,  to  marry  his  sister,  so 
that  his  son  should  inherit  through  both  parents. 

Many  Arab  tribes  are  named  after  brutes  such  as  lion, 
wolf,  dog,  gazelle,  calf,  dove  or  eagle,  or  as  tradition  says, 
after  founders  who  bore  the  names  of  those  animals. 
The  dove  tribe  does  not  eat  the  dove  ;  the  other  tribes 
attach  no  sacredness  to  the  animals  after  which  they  are 
named.  As  we  find  many  other  traces  of  the  feminine 
clan  in  Arabia,  we  may  presume  that  all  the  tribes  had 
their  respective  totems  in  remote  times.  Speaking  of 
some  Arabs  at  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era,  Strabo 
said :  "  All  have  one  wife  in  common.  .  .  Adultery 
is  punished  with  death,  but  it  can  be  committed  only 
with  a  woman  of  another  tribe."  There  is  here  no 
definition  of  the  tribe  within  which  intercourse  was  per- 
missible ;  and  the  language  is  not  inconsistent  with  the 
supposition  that  all  the  husbands  were,  by  birth,  mem- 
bers of  a  clan  different  from  that  of  the  wives. 

The  word  for  tribe  in  the  language  of  the  Arabs,  and 
that  for  fellow-clansman  in  the  tongues  of  the  Malays 
and  Alfuras  of  Celebes  are  survivals  of  a  condition  in 
which  descent  was  traced  in  the  female  line  only.  Some 
Arab  tribes  are  named  after  women.  Thus  the  Banu- 
Chindif,  the  Banu-Ocda,  and  Banu-Mozaina  are  the 
descendants  of  the  women  Chindif,  Ocda  and  Mozaina. 
The  Bedouins  of  Southern  Arabia  accept  sons-in-law,  who 
are  to  settle  in  the  wife's  village  or  group,  a  custom  that 
has  sur\'ivcd  from  the  time  of  the  feminine  clan. 


SEC  6t,.  feminine  clan  survivals.  135 

In  the  opinion  of  the  Arabs  the  character  of  the  man 
bears  more  resemblance  to  that  of  his  chahl  or  maternal 
uncle,  than  to  that  of  his  father ;  and  for  his  good  or  bad 
deeds,  the  people  bless  or  curse  his  chahl,  even  if  the 
latter  died  twenty  years  before.  A  proverb  says,  "  When 
a  mule  was  asked  '  Who  is  your  father?'  he  answered, 
*  The  horse  is  my  chahl.'  "  When  Mohammed  wanted  to 
honor  Wakkaz  he  took  his  hand  and  said  to  his  friends 
"  Behold  my  chahl !  "  An  Arab  chief  describing  another 
chief  to  Mohammed  said,  "  He  has  little  capacity  and 
less  generosity;  his  children  are  stupid  and  his  chahl  is 
bad."  An  Arab  chief  of  the  Taglib  tribe  offered  his  wife 
to  the  Calif  Al-Mansur,  who  excused  himself  and  ex- 
plained to  his  servant  that  his  only  reason  for  rejecting 
the  match  was  the  passage  in  a  poem  by  Jarir  who 
wrote,  "  Seek  no  chahl  among  the  Taglib.  The  negroes 
are  nobler  chahls."  The  importance  thus  attributed  to 
the  chahl,  as  Wilken  remarks,  can  be  well  explained  as  a 
survival  of  exclusive  maternal  relationship. 

Among  the  Hebrews,  who  are  akin  to  the  Arabs,  we 
find  traces  of  feminine  descent.  Abraham  married  his 
half-sister,  daughter  of  his  father,  and  so  did  Moses. 
Amnon  violated  his  half-sister,  also  a  child  of  David,  and 
could  have  married  her,  but  neglecting  to  do  so,  was  slain. 
Such  marriages  were  permitted  in  the  time  of  Ezekiel.'' 
The  purchase  money  for  Rebecca  went  not  to  her  father 
but  to  her  brother  and  her  mother,'"'*' and  the  duty  of  blood 
revenge  belonged  to  the  relatives  on  the  mother's  side.^^ 
Robertson  Smith  has  made  the  remark  that  "  the  use  of  a 
participle  [in  the  Hebrew  tongue]  to  mean  a  physical 
father  must,  beyond  all  doubt,  have  been  developed  in  a 
condition  of  life  in  which  physical  fatherhood  was  not  the 
basis  of  any  important  social  relation."" 


136  A    HISTORY   OF    MANKIND. 

Marriages  between  brothers  and  sisters  of  the  half 
blood  by  different  mothers  were  reputable  among  the 
Athenians  in  the  time  of  Solon,  and  were  tolerated  as 
late  as  Pericles.  Before  Cecrops  the  Athenians  took 
their  names  from  their  mothers  as  did  also  the  Lycians 
in  450  B.  c,  and  the  early  Cretans  and  Etruscans,  and 
the  Locrians  of  Italy.  In  Madagascar  now  the  Hovas 
permit  the  marriage  of  brother  and  sister  by  different 
mothers. 

The  feminine  clan  did  not  permit  the  father  to  sell  the 
daughter.  She  belonged  more  to  her  mother  and 
maternal  uncle  than  to  her  father ;  and  if  there  was  any 
article  of  purchase  in  the  matrimonial  bargain,  it  was 
rather  the  husband  than  the  wife.  He,  not  she,  changed 
residence.  His  title  in  her  was  not  permanent  enough 
nor  exclusive  enough  to  induce  him  to  pay  for  her. 

Sec.  64.  Masculine  Clan. — The  feminine  clan  was 
probably  universal  or  nearly  universal  at  one  time  among 
the  non-tilling  tribes  ;  but  it  became  less  and  less  suited 
to  the  wants  of  society.  The  warrior  sometimes  found 
himself  compelled  to  fight  with  the  clan  of  his  wife  and 
daughters  against  that  of  his  mother  and  sisters.  His 
companions  in  the  field  had  not  the  same  blood  as  he, 
nor  the  same  early  training,  nor  the  same  traditions,  nor 
the  same  sympathies,  nor  the  same  life-long  interests. 
They  had  not  been  bred  in  the  clan  ;  they  had  no  secure 
place  in  it.  They  might  be  divorced  and  driven  to  seek 
homes  elsewhere. 

All  the  improvements  in  the  useful  arts  in  government, 
in  the  military  art,  and  in  religion  tended  to  weaken  the 
feminine  clan.  The  advance  of  cultivation,  the  establish- 
ment of  slavery,  nobility,  powerful  chieftainship,  and  he- 
reditary priesthood,  and  the  introduction  of  new  tactics 


SEC.    64.    MASCULINE    CLAX.  1 37 

were  adverse  influences.  Some  of  them  could  not  gain 
a  foothold  until  the  rule  of  maternal  descent  was  over- 
thrown. The  successful  military  leader  saw  the  impor- 
tance of  having  soldiers  educated  from  boyhood  in  the 
same  drill,  accustomed  to  trust  one  another,  with  the 
same  life-long  allegiance,  and  the  same  general  perma- 
nent interests.  The  men  wanted  to  be  masters,  not 
slaves  of  their  wives;  owners,  not  tenants  at  will  of  their 
homes. 

By  such  influences,  the  feminine  clan  was  overthrown 
over  a  large  part  of  the  globe,  but  precisely  how  or 
where  the  change  was  first  made  we  do  not  know.  So 
soon  as  one  tribe  had  been  well  organized  on  the  basis  of 
masculine  pedigree,  the  advantages  of  its  social  system 
were  proved  by  its  superior  militar}'-  strength, — the  chief 
test  of  human  institutions,  in  the  early  grades  of  culture. 

When  the  wife  became  faithful  to  a  single  husband, 
when  paternity  became  comparatively  certain,  and  when 
degrees  of  relationship  were  traceable  as  distinctly  on 
the  side  of  the  father  as  on  that  of  the  mother,  there  was 
no  longer  social  need  of  the  clan.  Now,  for  the  first 
time,  the  idea  of  the  family  began  to  be  conceived  as  an 
association  of  a  man  with  a  wife  or  several  wives  and  his 
children,  under  his  control,  all  the  members  of  the  asso- 
ciation being  related  to  others  in  the  community  by 
definite  grades  of  affinity  or  of  lineal  or  collateral  con- 
sanguinity, on  both  sides  of  the  parentage.  The  recog- 
nition of  these  degrees  suggested  better  limitations,  than 
tho.se  of  clan  exogamy,  in  the  choice  of  spouses.  There 
was  much  more  reason  to  be  governed  by  regard  for 
descent  from  a  common  grandparent  or  great-grandpar- 
ent, than  for  that  from  a  very  remote  and  perhaps  mythical 
ancestor  on  only  one  side. 


138  A    HISTORY   OF    MANKIND. 

If  the  clan  had  been  exclusively  social  in  its  charac- 
ter it  would  have  disappeared  with  feminine  descent. 
But  it  was  also  political  and  religious,  and  its  influences 
in  these  respects  had  not  diminished.  It  was  still  the 
sovereign  political  organization,  with  the  only  power  of 
giving  efficient  protection  to  individuals;  and  in  many 
places  it  was  indispensable  for  that  purpose.  Besides, 
its  importance  had  been  increased  by  the  development  of 
a  system  of  public  worship  of  which  it  became  the  chief 
custodian.  Such  influences  in  favor  of  the  clan  were 
sufficient  to  maintain  it  long  after  the  abandonment  of 
feminine  descent  on  which  it  was  originally  founded. 

Thus  the  masculine  clan  succeeded  to  the  feminine 
clan,  preserving  the  same  principle  of  exogamy.  It  took 
possession  of  most  of  North  America  west  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, of  part  of  Australia,  and  of  part  of  Asia.  It  ex- 
isted in  Ancient  Greece  and  Italy.  Remains  of  it  are 
found  in  Hindostan  and  China,  where  persons  of  the 
same  family  name  are  not  permitted  to  marr>^  In  all 
China  there  are  only  four  hundred  family  names,  with 
five  hundred  thousand  persons  to  each  on  an  average. 

Sec  65.  Capture. — The  rule  of  male  descent  may  have 
been  recognized  first  in  the  children  of  women  taken 
from  hostile  tribes  by  chiefs  or  distinguished  warriors. 
Such  captives  became  the  exclusive  property  of  their 
captors,  and  their  children,  distinguished  by  a  known 
posterity,  became  the  favorites  of  their  fathers.  As  such 
wives  were  desirable,  and  yet  were  not  obtainable  in  war 
by  the  majority  of  men,  a  custom  of  obtaining  women  by 
simulation  of  capture  from  friendly  clans  or  tribes  arose, 
and  spread  over  many  countries.^ 

In  parts  of  Australia,  all  wives  are  obtained  by  cap- 
ture.    The  man  who  wants  a  wife,  watches  the  young 


SEC.    66.    POLYANDRY.  1 39 

women  of  the  suitable  clan  and  class  until  he  finds  a  fa- 
vorable opportunity  to  seize  the  one  he  chooses ;  he 
knocks  her  senseless  with  his  club,  and  then,  perhaps 
with  the  assistance  of  some  friends  drags  her  away. 
This  is  the  only  wedding  ceremony.  The  assent  of  the 
woman  is  not  asked,  and  if  asked  could  not  be  granted 
without  gross  violation  of  the  proprieties.  She  expects 
and  desires  to  be  treated  in  this  wav,  because  it  is  the 
only  respectable  method  of  matrimony.  Brides  are 
taken  by  force  or  with  show  of  force  among  the  Eskimos 
at  Cape  York,  the  Armenians,  the  Kaffirs,  the  Mandin- 
goes,  the  Tungooses,  the  Kamtschatkans,  some  Bed- 
ouins, and  some  tribes  in  the  Amazon  valleys. 

The  pretense  of  force  is  a  survival  of  the  custom  of 
real  capture ;  which  latter,  however,  was,  in  most  cases,  a 
custom  recognized  by  the  comity  of  clans  or  tribes.  It 
was  not  like  murder,  something  to  be  avenged  to  the 
death.  No  tribe  depended  for  wives  exclusively  on 
women  taken  in  real  warfare;  and  the  masculine  clan 
could  never  have  been  organized,  if  it  had  waited  until  it 
could  take  all  its  women  by  hostile  force. 

The  polyandrous  and  polygynous  habits  of  the  femi- 
nine clan  were  not  in  harmony  with  the  spirit  of  the  mas- 
culine clan,  under  the  influence  of  which  they  gradually 
diminished.  Society  advanced  towards  the  idea  of  the 
family,  but  for  long  ages  the  idea  remained  vague,  and  its 
adoption  in  general  practice  was  subjected  to  many  limit- 
ations. The  modern  family  has  risen  on  the  ruins  of 
the  clan ;  so  long  as  the  latter  was  potent,  the  former 
was  weak. 

Sec.  66.  Polyandry. — Although  abandoned  in  many 
tribes  when  the  feminine  clan  was  overthrown,  in  others 
polyandry    continued   to  maintain  its  existence.      It   is 


140  A    HISTORY    OF    MANKIND. 

now  the  dominant  matrimonial  system  among  the  Cash- 
merians,  the  Thibetans,  the  Nairs,  the  Todas/  and  the 
Coorgs,  and  it  is  tol  erated  among  the  Kalmucks,  Aleuts, 
Eskimos,  Orinocos,  Maypures,  and  Hottentots.  It  was 
found  occasionally  among  the  Maoris,  Marquesans  and 
many  North  American  tribes  east  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, as  well  as  among  the  nobles  of  ancient  Sparta  and 
mediaeval  Venice. 

Among  the  Nairs,  Thibetans,  and  Cashmerians  all  the 
husbands  of  one  wife  are  usually  brothers.  After  the 
eldest  brother  marries,  the  younger  ones  live  in  his 
house.  When  polyandry  is  the  general  rule  of  the 
community,  it  is  accompanied  by  the  habit  of  exposing 
many  of  the  female  infants,  as  among  the  Todas  and 
Marquesans;  when  it  is  the  rule  only  of  a  dominant 
class,  as  among  the  Spartans  and  Venetian  nobles,  it 
grows  out  of  the  inability  of  some  men  to  maintain 
separate  families  in  the  style  demanded  of  their  rank. 
The  communities  in  which  polyandry  now  exists  con- 
tain about  seven  million  people  in  the  aggregate. 

Most  of  the  Toda  families  are  polyandrous,  but  po- 
lygyny is  also  found  among  them.  As  the  man,  who 
marries  the  eldest  of  several  sisters,  is  entitled  to  all  the 
younger  ones,  so  under  some  circumstances,  the  woman 
who  marries  the  eldest  of  several  brothers,  can  take  the 
others.  In  the  Parana  valley.  South  America,  marriage 
contracts  frequently  stipulate  that  the  husband  may 
have  several  wives  or  that  the  wife  may  have  several 
husbands. ■* 

Among  the  Maoris,  Marquesans,  Bafiotes  and  Nat- 
chez, the  privilege  -of  having  several  husbands  belongs 
only  to  the  women  of  noble  rank.  In  Congo,  and  the 
Mariana  Islands,  the  noble  women  can  divorce  husbands 


SEC.    dj.    POLYGYNY.  I^.I 

of  inferior  rank  at  pleasure,  and  for  this  reason  prefer  in- 
feriors. The  daughter  of  a  Bechuana  head  chief  cannot 
marry  an  inferior,  but  while  unmarried,  she  can  have  as 
many  lovers  as  she  wishes.^ 

In  Ashantee,  Congo,  Loango,  and  Akka,  many  daugh- 
ters of  high  chiefs  refuse  to  marry  but  make  frequent 
changes  in  their  lovers  so  that  no  one  shall  presume  on 
the  favor  shown  to  him.  Custom  in  Dahomey  permits 
the  king's  daughter  to  invite  any  ma,-""  to  her  chamber. 

Sec.  (>y.  Polygyny. — The  masculine  clan  soon  checked 
and  finally  suppressed  the  polyandrous  customs  inher- 
ited from  the  feriiinine  clan,  and  established  the  polyg- 
ynous  family  in  which  the  wives  were  required,  under 
ordinary  circumstances,  to  be  faithful  to  the  husband. 
This  polygynous  family  prevailed  so  expensively  and  so 
long,  down  to  our  own  time,  that  it  may  be  considered 
one  of  the  ordinary  features  of  savage  and  barbarous  life. 
Out  of  hundreds  of  tribes,  not  half  a  dozen  are  monoga- 
mous. Indeed,  to  many  savages,  polygyny  seems  equally 
necessary  to  the  women  and  to  the  men  ;  to  the  former 
because  of  the  excess  of  their  number,  many  of  the  men 
being  killed  in  war ;  and  to  the  latter  because  there  must 
be  an  interval  of  f  )ur  years  after  the  expectation  of  a 
birth  before  the  child  shall  be  deprived  of  a  mother's 
milk  by  another  child.'  On  this  point  public  opinion  is 
strict  in  some  savage  regions  of  Africa  and  Polynesia ; 
as  it  is  in  various  modern,  and  was  in  many  ancient  bar- 
barous, countries.  The  Congoese  husband  must  keep 
away  from  his  wife  until  her  child  can  carry  a  calabash 
of  water  without  spilling.  In  Fiji,  if  a  woman  has  a 
child  before  its  predecessor  is  four  years  old — the  age  for 
weaning — her  relatives  take  great,  and  sometimes  mortal 
offense  at  the  husband.     h2\-en  in  the  tribes  possessing 


142  A    HISTORY   OF    MANKIND, 

milk-yielding  animals,  monogamy  would  be  considered 
discreditable  to  a  chief.^ 

The  red  warrior,  who  buys  the  eldest  in  a  group  of 
several  sisters,  has  a  recognized  claim  to  buy  the  younger 
ones  when  they  arrive  at  womanhood.  For  the  sake  of 
domestic  harmony,  he  prefers  that  all  his  wives  should 
be  sisters.  The  Cherokee  man  must  add  his  mother-in- 
law  to  his  list  of  wives  when  she  becomes  a  widow. 

Sec.  68.  Girl's  Position. — In  most  tribes  of  Africa, 
Polynesia,  and  America,  custom  places  no  restriction 
save  those  of  rank  and  blood  relationship,  on  unmarried 
women.  Every  village  of  the  Tongans^  and  Wanyam- 
wuezi^  has  a  large  hut  with  a  single  room  for  the  exclu- 
sive use  of  the  girls  and  their  lovers.  In  eastern  Equa- 
torial Africa,  the  Foosa  girl  has  a  hut  for  herself  and  her 
visitors.^  Among  the  Kamtschatkans  the  girl  boasts  of 
the  number  of  her  lovers,  and  so  in  certain  cases  does  the 
woman  among  the  Dakotas.*  The  Santals,  Gonds  and 
Wanikas  have  festivals  for  the  unmarried  women  and 
their  favored  adorers.  Among  the  exceptional  tribes, 
which  demand  strict  conduct  from  their  unmarried 
women,  are  the  Cheyennes,  Apaches,  Abipones,  Fans, 
and  some  Patagonians. 

Sec.  69.  Wife's  Position. — The  overthrow  of  the  femi- 
nine clan  led  to  the  custom  of  buying  wives.  Youth, 
beauty,  noble  blood,  membership  in  a  powerful  clan,  and 
skill  in  fishing  or  diving  for  mollusks,  are  among  the  ele- 
ments of  a  girl's  marketable  value.  In  many  tribes,  the 
possession  of  a  number  of  daughters  is  a  source  of 
wealth.  The  purchaser  is  entitled  to  a  return  of  his 
money  if  the  woman  should  be  sterile,  if  she  should 
elope,  or  if  she  should  die  before  having  a  child.  Some 
customs  permit  her  to  leave  her  husband,  whenever  she 


SEC.  69,  wife's  position.  143 

finds  a  preferred  lover  who  will  pay  her  original  price. 
Her  relatives  by  blood  retain  an  interest  in  her,  avenge 
her  murder  by  anybody  but  her  husband,  and  in  some 
tribes  can  demand  payment  from  him  when  he  kills  her. 

Generally  in  savage  tribes,  not  organized  on  the  basis 
of  feminine  descent,  the  husband  is  the  absolute  owner 
of  the  wife.  He  can  divorce,  sell,  mutilate,  or  kill  her 
without  the  least  responsibility  to  anyone.  He  has  the 
same  ownership  and  control  of  his  children.  If  his  wife 
be  entitled  by  local  customs  to  a  divorce  and  she  wishes 
one,  she  cannot  leave  him  while  she  expects  or  suckles 
a  child ;  for  the  children  belong  to  the  father  and  must 
be  delivered  to  him  in  such  condition  that  they  can  live 
without  further  assistance  from  the  mother. 

In  countries  where  a  comfortable  hut  can  be  erected 
by  the  labor  of  one  person  in  a  few  hours,  each  wife  has 
her  separate  dwelling,  and  the  husband  makes  his  home 
for  alternate  days  or  weeks  in  each.  Jealousy  is  per- 
haps not  more  frequent  in  polygynous  than  in  monoga- 
mous families,  and  the  first  wife  is  pleased  when  her  hus- 
band marries  again.  The  possession  of  several  is  a  mark 
of  the  man's  dignity.  He  is  subject  to  no  penalty  for 
paying  attention  to  women  not  in  his  family.  A  Kaffir 
proverb  expresses  the  idea  accepted  in  some  of  the  more 
advanced  tribes,  "  Man  is  for  all  women  ;  woman  is  for 
her  husband  alone."  Among  the  Redmen,  the  man  lives 
with  all  his  wives  and  children  in  one  room. 

The  husband  does  not  converse  with  his  wife  before 
company  ;  he  does  not  eat  with  her ;  he  treats  her  as  an 
inferior  being,  or  slave.  When  she  goes  with  him,  she 
must  walk  at  a  distance  behind  him.  If  there  be  a  bur- 
den for  one,  she  carries  it ;  if  a  horse  for  one,  he  rides 
it.     In  many  tribes,  even  in  seasons  of  superabundance, 


144  ^    HISTORY   OF    MANKIND. 

she  is  forbidden  to  eat  certain  delicacies.  To  her,  ava, 
turtle,  pork,  and  cocoa-nut  are  prohibited  in  parts  of 
Polynesia ;  chicken  and  goat  in  Ishogoland;  pork  among 
the  Khonds ;  certain  fish  in  some  parts  of  Australia ; 
human  flesh  and  various  other  delicacies  in  Melanesia, 
and  in  the  Mbaya  region,  monkey  and  capibara  to  the 
married  woman ;  and  all  quadrupeds,  birds  and  large  fish 
to  the  girls.  In  the  countries  where  these  prohibitions 
respectively  prevail,  they  belong  to  the  local  ecclesiasti- 
cal systems  and  the  priests  threaten  violators  with  the 
terrors  of  divine  wrath. 

In  Dahomey  and  Cueva  where  the  woman  are  efficient 
soldiers,  in  Balondaland  where  they  own  and  till  the 
fields,  and  in  those  regions  where  they  get  food  supplies 
of  shell-fish  by  diving,  or  fish  by  angling,  or  roots  by 
digging,  they  are  treated  by  the  men  as  social  equals. 

In  those  tribes  which  require  the  husband  to  capture 
his  wife  or  to  elope  with  her,  he  must  nevertheless  pay 
for  her ;  and  if  he  cannot  pay  at  once,  he  may  be  bound, 
so  long  as  he  lives,  to  give  to  her  father  part  of  every  large 
animal  killed  by  him.  Among  the  Garos  and  Bhinyas  of 
Hindostan,  some  peninsular  Malays,  and  the  Ahitas  of 
the  Philippine  Islands,  some  liberty  of  choice  is  allowed 
to  the  girl,  but  after  she  has  accepted  the  suitor,  he 
must  nevertheless  pay  for  her. 

In  Casemanche,  the  girl  may  be  betrothed ,  in  infancy, 
and  married  when  she  becomes  a  young  woman.  On 
her  wedding  day  she  receives  a  chemise  which  she  must 
wear  with  the  obligation  of  fidelity,  the  obligation  expir- 
ing when  the  o-arment  is  worn  out.  As  beating  with 
a  club  or  stone  is  part  of  the  process  of  washing  in  that 
country,  the  young  married  woman  may  often  be  seen 
pounding   part  of  her  wardrobe  very  industriously  be- 


SEC.    70.    MARRIAGE,    ETC.  1 45 

tween  two  rough  stones.^  In  certain  Malagasy  tribes 
\s'hile  the  husband  is  absent  from  his  village,  his  wife 
must  be  true  to  him."  In  Dahomey,  Japan,  and  parts  of 
Hindostan  and  Malaysia,  the  occupation  of  the  public 
woman  is  not  disreputable,  and  many  poor  girls  adopt 
it  for  a  time  for  the  purpose  of  learning  the  habits  of  po- 
lite society,  and  collecting  money  for  a  dowry.  A  hos- 
pitality more  generous  than  that  of  civilized  communities 
is  common  among  savages  in  all  the  continents. 

Sec.  70.  Marriage,  etc. — Savage  tribes  generally  have 
no  wedding  ceremony,  the  importance  of  which,  in  civil- 
ized society  grows  out  of  the  permanence  of  the  matri- 
monial relation,  the  chastity  or  supposed  chastity  of  the 
average  bride,  and  the  husband's  promise  to  love  and 
cherish  her.  The  unrestricted  or  extensive  promiscuous- 
ness  in  the  early  culturesteps,  and  the  capture,  purchase 
and  enslavement  of  the  women,  tended  to  prevent  display 
on  the  occasion  of  a  marriage.  In  very  few  savage  tribes 
is  there  any  serious  ceremony ;  among  the  exceptions  are 
the  weddings  of  chiefs  and  nobles  before  priests  in  Tahiti/ 
and  of  warriors  before  chiefs  in  New  England.^ 

The  Andamanese  man  and  women  may  treat  each 
other  as  husband  and  wife  through  a  season  or  two,  but 
after  the  birth  of  a  child,  they  separate  and  select  other 
partners.^  Marriages  for  a  few  days  are  permitted  among 
the  Piutes  ;*  for  a  week  or  month  among  the  Hurons  f 
without  obligations  of  fidelity  on  either  side  among  the 
Akkas,®  and  on  probation  among  the  Todas,  Congoese, 
Greenlanders,  and  many  North  Americans.  In  some 
Polynesian  groups  there  is  no  permanence  in  the  sexual 
relation  until  the  couple  have  a  child  which  they  agree  to 


rear/ 


The  Hassaniyeh  Arab  marriage  contract  binds  the  wife 
10 


14^  A   HISTORY  OF   MANKIND. 

to  conjugal  fidelity  for  a  certain  number  of  days — usually 
four — in  every  week.  In  making  the  bargain  the  hus- 
band haggles  for  five  or  six ;  the  father  for  two  or  three 
days.^ 

The  man's  privilege  of  divorce  is  often  used,  especially 
by  the  poor  man  who  can  have  only  one  wife  at  a  time. 
When  he  sends  her  back  to  her  father,  he  cannot  reclaim 
the  price  paid,  and  the  father  does  not  object,  as  he  can 
sell  her  again.  The  matrimonial  relation  is  usually  brief 
among  the  Damaras,  Kasias  and  Aleuts.  The  Guaycurus 
and  Chiriguanas  of  South  America  and  the  Eskimos  often 
trade  wives.  Among  the  Chippewyans  and  the  Bush- 
men, the  strongest  man  is  allowed  by  custom  to  take  the 
wife  of  the  weaker.  The  question  of  relative  strength  is 
solved  by  wrestling. 

Divorce  costs  a  camel  in  Arabia,  and  many  men  there 
have  paid  the  price  over  and  over  again.  Burckhardt 
saw  a  man  forty-five  years  old  who  had  had  fifty  wives, 
and  only  one  at  a  time.^  Ali,  son-in-law  of  Mohammed, 
had  two  hundred  wives  in  all,  at  different  times ;  and  a 
dyer  of  Bagdad,  is  famous  for  having  wedded  nine  hun- 
dred different  women. ^° 

In  those  regions  where  the  wife  is  bought,  there  is  no 
limitation  to  the  age  at  which  she  may  be  delivered  to 
her  husband.  Often  she  is  paid  for  when  not  more  than 
six  or  eight  years  old,  and  sometimes  at  such  a  tender 
age  she  is  taken  to  the  home  of  the  purchaser.  Some 
travelers  attribute  the  early  fading  and  common  sterility 
of  savage  women  to  the  abuses  accompanying  their  pre- 
mature marriage.^^  As  there  are  child  wives,  so  there  are 
child  husbands.  The  latter  are  found  now  among  some 
hill  tribes  of  Hindostan,^'  and  among  the  Kirghiz,'^  as 
they  were  in  the  last  century  among  the  Russians.     By 


SEC.    72.    COUVADE.  1 47 

marrv'ine  his  child  son  to  a  vounsr  woman,  the  Russian 
farmer  obtained  a  cheap  servant  and  concubine. 

Sec.  71.  BrotJicr  Adoption. — The  custom  of  adopting  a 
brother  by  a  mixture  of  blood  prevails  over  much  of 
Africa,  Polynesia  and  ^Malaysia,  and  is  found  in  North 
and  South  America  and  Western  Asia.  It  existed  also 
in  ancient  Europe.  The  methods  of  making  the  mixture 
are  numerous,  including  simultaneous  sucking  of  the 
blood  from  cuts  in  the  upper  right  arms  of  the  two  who 
adopt  each  other,  and  the  smearing  of  the  blood  of  both 
on  bread  which  is  eaten  by  both ;  and  putting  it  in  beer 
which  is  drunk,  and  mixing  it  with  tobacco  which  is 
smoked.  Among  the  Wanyamwuezi,  powder  is  rubbed 
into  the  cuts  so  they  shall  remain  x'isible  reminders  of  the 
relationship.  The  Syrians  smear  some  of  the  blood  on 
paper  which  is  enclosed  in  a  little  case  and  carried  on  the 
neck  as  a  sacred  amulet.  The  brothers  adopted  by  a 
mixture  of  blood,  owe  the  highest  dev^otionto  each  other; 
must  defend  each  other  at  the  risk  of  their  lives  ;  must 
regard  each  other  as  having  almost  equal  rights  in  their 
property  and  wives  ;  must  av^enge  the  wrongs  done  to 
each  other  ;  and  in  some  tribes  must  exchange  names,  so 
that  each  abandons  his  own  former  name  and  assumes 
that  of  the  other. 

Sec.  J2.  CoHvadc. — The  couvade,  a  custom  requiring 
the  father  to  lie  abed  for  a  week  or  two  after  the  birth  of 
his  child,  prevails  or  prevailed  extensively  among  many 
savage  tribes,  including  the  Lower  Californians,  the  Sho- 
shones,  some  New  Mexicans,  the  Arowaks,  the  Abiponcs, 
the  Coroados,  the  Caribs,  the  Greenlanders,  the  Kam- 
tschatkans,  and  some  Congocs,  and  Dyaks,  as  well  as 
among  some  barbarous  peoples  of  Asia  Minor  in  the 
time  of  Xcnophjn,  among  some  people  in  modern  China, 


14^  A    HISTORY   OF   MANKIND. 

and  among  the  civilized  Corsicans  and  Basques  of  the 
XlXth  century.'  A  kindred  custom  limiting  the  diet 
of  the  father  for  a  few  weeks  exists  in  Fiji,  Borneo,  Mada- 
gascar and  Kaffirland.^  While  in  bed  during  the  cou- 
vade,  the  Abipone  father  is  carefully  protected  against 
cold  breezes,  so  that  he  shall  not  take  a  catarrh ;  he  is 
restricted  in  his  diet,  and  his  eyebrows  are  pulled  out. 
A  neglect  of  these  precautions  exposes  the  child  to  great 
danger  of  early  death  or  life-long  misfortune.  Even  after 
rising  from  his  bed,  the  father  must  not  exert  himself 
much.  During  the  first  three  weeks  after  the  birth,  he 
must  not  cut  down  a  tree,  nor  catch  a  large  fish  nor  kill 
a  large  quadruped  nor  even  shoot  off  a  gun.*  Similar 
restrictions  rest  on  the  father  of  the  newly-born  child 
among  the  Land  Dyaks.''  If  a  man  disregards  the  rules 
of  the  couvade,  among  the  Mundrucus,  he  is  not  con- 
sidered the  father  of  the  child.* 

This  custom  had  its  origin  presumably  in  the  idea 
that  the  father  must  do  penance  to  appease  the  spirits  or 
gods  who  are  trying  to  take  the  life  of  the  infant ;  and  it 
perhaps  did  not  begin  until  after  the  overthrow  of  the 
feminine  clan,  when  the  father  by  laying  claim  to  the 
child,  became,  to  a  certain  extent,  responsible  for  the 
preservation  of  its  life.  We  do  not  find  the  couvade  in 
any  of  the  tribes  organized  in  feminine  clans.  In  the  Bi- 
ble we  read  that  "  the  Lord  struck  the  child,  that  Uriah's 
wife  bare  unto  David,  and  it  was  very  sick.  David 
therefore  besought  God  for  the  child;  and  David  fasted, 
and  went  in  and  lay  all  night  upon  the  earth. "^  The 
motive  of  the  Jewish  monarch  in  this  penance  was  to 
induce  Yahveh  to  spare  the  life  of  the  child,^  and  as  the 
procedure  in  the  couvade  is  analogous  to  that  of  David, 
so  we  may  presume  that  the  custom  had  its  origin  in  a 


SEC.    yi-    INFANCV,    ETC.  1 49 

similar  motive.  The  father  does  not  wait  until  his  in- 
fant falls  sick,  but  performs  his  penance  partly  for  the 
purpose  of  protecting  it,  in  its  first  days,  against  the  at- 
tacks of  the  evil  spirits.  In  some  tribes  both  the  mother 
and  her  new-born  child  are  unclean,  and  it  is  sacrile- 
gious for  the  villagers  generally  to  touch  them  or  go  near 
them  until  they  are  purified,  the  couvade  of  the  father 
being  part  of  the  ceremony  of  purification.^ 

Sec.  73.  Infancy,  etc. — To  the  savage  woman,  parturi- 
tion is  seldom  prolonged,  painful,  or  debilitating.^  She 
does  not  take  to  her  bed,  nor  make  an  outcr}%  nor  need 
assistance.  Among  the  Dakotas,  a  child  is  disgraced 
by  the  mother  who  shrieks  or  even  groans  in  gi\ing 
it  birth.  In  many  regions,  the  woman,  who  expects  to 
have  a  child,  goes  away  alone  and  in  an  hour  comes 
back  with  it  in  her  arms. 

In  Tasmania  and  parts  of  New  Guinea,  the  new-born  in- 
fant is  buried  to  its  neck  in  warm  ashes  or  sand.  In  most 
North  American  tribes,  it  is  tied  on  a  board  covered  with 
a  layer  of  moss,  and  there  it  is  kept  for  more  th  u\  a 
year,  though  taken  off  every  day  for  the  purpose  of 
washing.^  A  string  at  the  top  of  the  board  serves  to 
hang  up  the  baby,  and  when  this  is  attached  to  the  flex- 
ible limb  of  a  tree  and  also  to  the  big  toe  of  the  mother, 
she  can  rock  the  cradle  while  sitting  at  licr  household 
work. 

Savage  population  is  nearly  stationary  in  number.  A 
large  increase  cannot  be  continuous  because  there  is  no 
rapid  development  of  industry  to  supply  an  increased 
stock  of  food.  Children  arc  not  numerous.  A  mother 
with  five  living  children  is  rare ;  with  eight,  very  rare. 
Among  the  causes  of  tiie  paucity  of  offspring  in  tribes 
which  have  not  begun  t(j  die  out,  arc  the  frequency  of 


150  A    HISTORi'    OF    MANKIND. 

famines  and  of  seasons  with  scanty  supplies  of  nutritious 
food ;  the  excessive  toil  imposed  on  the  women,  and  the 
customs  of  early  marriages,  of  abortion  and  of  suckling 
three  or  four  years. 

Infanticide  is  not  prohibited  by  any  savage  govern- 
ment. It  is  rare  in  Africa,  common  in  Australia  and 
America,  frequent  in  Melanesia,  and  very  frequent  in 
Micronesia  and  Polynesia.  In  the  Hawaiian  group,  two 
children  out  of  three,  on  an  average,  were  abandoned  at 
birth  f  and  the  proportion  was  equally  large  in  some 
other  Polynesian  groups.  In  Ratak,  no  woman,  unless 
a  chiefs  wife,  was  permitted  to  rear  more  than  three 
children.''  In  the  Kingsmill  Islands,  after  a  woman  had 
two  living  children,  she  usually  prevented  the  birth  of 
others.^  The  Tukopians  did  not  allow  more  than  two 
boys  to  grow  up  in  a  family."  A  child  of  cross-blood, 
that  is  one  whose  parents  were  of  different  ranks,  was 
dispatched  in  Polynesia  and  Micronesia,  as  was  one  of 
half  white  blood  in  Australia.'  Many  Abipone  women 
abandon  their  new-born  infants  for  fear  that  otherwise 
their  husbands  will  take  additional  wives  or  run  after 
other  women.* 

Experience  has  shown  that  the  milk  of  the  mother  is 
insufficient  for  the  maintenance  of  two  children  until 
they  are  old  enough  to  depend  on  other  food ;  and 
therefore  in  many  tribes  the  birth  of  twins  is  considered 
unlucky ;  and  one  at  least  is  sacrificed.  Among  the 
Arebos  both  are  dispatched.'  The  cutting  of  the  upper 
teeth  before  the  lower  ones  is  a  cause  for  condemning 
children  to  death  among  some  African  tribes  ;  and  turn- 
ing from  side  to  side  in  sleep,  among  some  Americans. 
Deformed  children  and  motherless  infants  are  abandoned 
everywhere.     In  the  Kingsmill  group,  poor  parents  often 


SEC.    74.    SOX-IN-LAW   SHYNESS.  I5I 

expose  girls  because  they  would  need  dowries  at  mar- 


riaore. 


The  frequency  of  infanticide  among  savages  must  not 
be  attributed  to  a  lack  of  affection  on  the  part  of  the 
women.  They  are  generally  kind  mothers,  and  when 
they  have  once  suckled  a  child,  they  rarely  consent  to 
its  death.  In  many  Polynesian  islands,  they  had  to 
choose  between  infanticide  and  the  starvation  of  the 
adults.  * 

Sec.  74.  Son-iii-laio  Shyness. — A  custom  almost  as 
wonderful  as  couvade,  to  high  civilization,  is  that  of  son- 
in-law  shyness,  which  forbids  certain  persons  related  by 
marriage  to  see  or  speak  to  each  other.  Among  the 
North  American  savages  generally,  the  Arowaks,  the 
Caribs,  and  the  Arabs,  the  son-in-law  must  not  look  the 
mother-in-law  in  the  face ;  and  if  he  has  anything  to  say 
to  her,  even  in  her  presence,  he  must  tell  a  third  person 
to  tell  it  to  her ;  and  if  there  be  no  third  person  to  serve 
as  a  medium  of  communication,  he  must  look  away  from 
her,  and  talk  as  if  addressing  himself  to  another.  When 
a  Kaffir  mother  meets  her  daughter's  husband  she  must 
turn  aside  and  sit  with  her  back  to  the  road  imtil  he  lias 
passed.  The  Kaffir  wife  is  not  permitted  to  seethe  father 
or  uncle  of  her  husband  or  to  pronounce  their  names. 
In  some  tribes  of  central  Africa,  the  affianced  man  must 
not  see  the  parents  of  iiis  prospective  wife.  The  Mongol 
or  Kalmuck  wife  must  not  speak  to  her  husband's  father  ; 
and  the  Chinaman  must  not  see  his  daughter-in-law.  In 
one  of  the  Gilbert  Islands,  years  elapse  after  marriage 
before  the  wife  dares  to  speak  to  any  man  save  her  hus- 
band.' The  rules  of  son-in-law  shyness  vary  greatly  in 
tin:  ])ers^ns  to  whom  tlic\'  a])])l)'  and  the  method  of  their 
application   in   different   triljes,  and  are  found    extending 


152  A    HISTORY   OF    MANKIND. 

over  a  large  part  of  the  savage  world ;  but  not  in  any 
of  the  tribes  composed  of  feminine  clans.  They  are 
parts  of  the  system  of  masculine  descent,  devised  to  give 
to  the  husband  control  over  his  wife,  and  may  have  been 
influenced  also  by  the  animosities  resulting  from  the 
capture  of  wives. 

Sec.  75.  Womanhood. — Among  the  tribes  which  have 
outgrown  the  feminine  clan,  the  appearance  of  woman- 
hood in  the  young  girl,  instead  of  being  reserved  as  a 
modest  secret,  is  treated  as  a  proper  matter  for  general 
notoriety  or  as  an  occasion  of  public  festivity.  She  is 
regarded  as  a  piece  of  merchandise  to  be  sold  at  the  first 
opportunity.  Her  marketable  condition  is  announced 
by  a  distinctive  girdle  or  headdress  in  part  of  Pennsyl- 
vania;^ by  tattoo  among  the  Polynesians,  Fijians,  Pimas 
and  Gonds ;  by  cicatrices  among  the  Australians  ;  by 
filing  the  teeth  among  the  Batta  Malays ;  by  breaking 
out  a  tooth  or  several  teeth  among  the  Tasmanians, 
Batokas,  and  many  other  tribes  ;  by  pulling  out  the  eye- 
brows and  eyelashes  among  the  Apaches ;  by  inserting 
an  ornament  in  the  lip  or  nose  in  certain  tribes ;  by  an 
invitation  to  all  acquaintances  to  call  at  the  tent  and  con- 
gratulate the  family  among  the  Dakotas ;  by  proces- 
sion and  a  feast  among  the  Mandingoes,  Fans,  Akkas 
and  Cape  Palmas  negroes ;'  by  a  dance  among  the 
Marutse  ^  and  some  Californians  ;*  by  subjecting  the  girl 
to  a  three  days'  fast  among  the  Yumas;  by  flogging  her 
among  the  Campas  of  South  America  f  by  burying  to 
the  neck  in  sand  for  twenty-four  hours  near  San  Diego,® 
and  by  imprisoning  her  for  months  in  Alaska  and  Cen- 
tral America.' 

Sec.  'J^.  Modesty. — Modesty  is  a  conventional  standard 
of  propriety,  harmonizing  with  customs  adapted  to  the 


SEC.    jy    NUDITY.  153 

climate,  dwellings,  customs,  laws  and  superstitions  of  the 
country.  It  varies  with  time  and  place  and  general  cul- 
ture. Those  tribes  which  are  ordinarily  nude,  which 
have  only  one  small  sleeping  apartment  for  a  family  of  six 
or  eight  persons,  and  which  attach  no  value  to  virginity 
in  the  girl  or  to  conjugal  chasity  in  the  wife,  cannot  have 
the  same  rules  of  modesty  as  other  tribes  with  different 
customs  and  ideas.  In  the  valley  of  the  Orinoco,  the 
woman  is  immodest  who  appears  among  strangers  with- 
out a  coat  of  paint.  An  aboriginal  girl  there,  to  please 
a  European  visitor,  put  on  a  gown,  but  when  some  of 
her  tribe  appeared  she  was  much  abashed  and  threw  off 
the  garment  hastily. 

The  scantier  the  ordinary  clothing  of  the  Zulus,  the 
greater  their  shame  when  surprised  without  any.  It  has 
been  observed  that  some  nude  African  tribes  are  less 
unchaste,  and  by  civilized  standards  less  immodest  than 
other  tribes  which  are  habitually  clothed.  Fashionable 
styles  of  dress  in  certain  parts  of  South  America  and  the 
Pacific  islands  are  more  immodest  than  absolute  nudity. 

The  conversation  of  savages  is  often  very  gross,  and 
the  same  remarks  nia\-  be  made  of  man\-  of  their  amuse- 
ments  and  customs.  I-'roni  their  earliest  infancy,  children 
see  sights  and  hear  expressions  which  are  carefully  hid- 
den in  civilized  countries.  At  the  most  fashionable 
entertainments  of  Polynesia  and  Micronesia,  the  highly- 
honored  Areoi  nobles  sing  the  coarsest  songs  and  act 
most  indecent  scenes.^ 

Sec.  TJ.  Nudity. — Among  savages  generally  the  senti- 
ment that  nudity  is  immodest,  if  not  absolutely  lacking, 
is  very  weak.  In  tropical  climates  throughout  the  year, 
and  in  temperate  region  ;,  in  the  hot  season,  the  children 
who  have  not  arrived  at  puberty  are  nearl}'  all  naked. 


154  A    HISTORY   OF   MANKIND. 

and  so  are  the  adults  in  Tasmania,  parts  of  Australia, 
the  Pelew,  Mariana  and  Torres  islands,  and  among  the 
Ovambos,  Batokas,  Obongos,  Bubes,  Lufiras,  Wakambas, 
Kaironoos,  Goldas,  Botocudos,  Orinocos,  Arowaks,  Ta- 
pajos,  Puris,  and  Coroados  of  both  sexes.  To  distin- 
guish himself  from  his  subjects,  the  chief  of  the  Musgus 
wears  clothes.  The  men  of  Shir,  Nuehr,  Bari,  Mahenge, 
New  Caledonia,  and  California  and  the  Maori  warriors,  on 
military  expeditions,  are  nude  and  so  are  the  married 
women  of  Ganguella,  Watusi,  Uape,  Congo,  and  parts  of 
Australia  and  Melanesia,  and  the  unmarried  women  of 
Fan,  Dor,  Nuehr,  Dinka,  Shillook,  Ashira,  Obbo,  Tupi, 
Guaype,  and  parts  of  Australia  and  South  America. 
The  Mandombe  bride,  without  any  clothing  save  a  coat 
of  whitewash,  calls  on  her  friends  to  announce  her  ap- 
proaching marriage.^ 

The  general  rule  of  savage  life  is  that  as  the  wife  must 
be  stricter  in  her  conduct  than  the  girl,  so  also  she  shall 
be  more  careful  to  clothe  herself  In  Fiji,  the  only  dress 
of  the  marriageable  girl  is  a  girdle  with  fringe  three 
inches  long ;  of  the  childless  wife  a  foot  long ;  of  the 
wife  with  a  child,  a  foot  and  a  half  long. 

The  savage  woman  usually  wears  no  clothing  above 
the  waist  in  warm  weather,  and  a  small  motive  induces  her 
to  throw  off  that  below  the  waist.  Thus  if  she  has  to 
walk  across  a  stream  where  she  will  be  splashed,  she 
takes  it  off.  A  Kaffir  girl  in  a  mixed  company  received 
a  present  of  a  new  dress,  and  immediately  took  off  the 
old  one,  so  that  she  could  put  on  the  new  one.  In  many 
tribes  the  women  are  dressed  while  away  from  home  or 
at  home  entertaining  visitors,  and  nude  at  other  times. 

Sec.  yS.  Clothing. — The  most  common  feminine  gar- 
ment is  a  fringe  girdle,  the  fringe,  from  three  to  eighteen 


SEC.    yS.   CLOTHING.  1 55 

inches  long,  consisting  of  flags,  reeds,  strips  of  bark,  twine, 
or  leather  thongs.  If  beads  are  procurable,  they  are  much 
prized  for  decorating  this  simple  but  important  article  of 
apparel.  Loin-cloths,  aprons,  short  skirts  and  cloaks 
are  also  fashionable,  the  preferred  materials  for  them,  on 
account  of  solidity  of  texture  and  fitness  for  ornamenta- 
tion, being  woven  cloth  or  leather;  but  for  lack  of  these 
bark  cloth  is  much  used. 

The  Wahehe  woman  wears  a  string  of  beads  round 
her  UTiist  with  a  tail  hanging  down  behind;  and  it  would 
be  highly  unbecoming  for  her  to  go  into  company  with- 
out the  tail.  The  Watuta,  Wanyuema,  Shillook  and 
Vatd  women  have  string  girdles  with  an  apron  or  fringe  in 
front  and  a  tail  behind,  and  the  tail  should  be  longer  than 
the  appendage  in  front.  The  dress  of  the  obscurely  fair 
sex  in  the  Apono  and  Ishogo  tribes  consists  of  two  pieces 
of  cloth,  one  on  each  side  of  the  body  from  the  armpits 
to  the  kn  jcs.  These  pieces  must  meet  behind  ;  whether 
they  meet  in  front  or  not  is  less  important.  The  Dor 
women  comply  with  the  requirements  of  modesty,  as 
they  understand  it,  by  wearing  a  little  twig  hanging  down 
in  front  from  a  string  girdle.  An  apron  six  inches 
square  attached  to  a  similar  girdle  suffices  for  the  mar- 
ried women  of  Fan,  Shir,  Bari,  Monbuttoo,  Mundrucu  and 
some  New  Guinea  tribes. 

The  savage  in  the  temperate  zone  bears  with  compar- 
ative indifference  a  degree  of  cold  which  would  cause 
great  discomfort  to  the  civilized  man.  He  not  only 
seems  comfortable  when  nearly  naked  in  a  freezing  tem- 
perature, but  when  he  receives  a  piece  of  cloth,  he  will 
wear  it  in  cold  weather  not  on  the  chest  or  abdomen, 
wiiich  we  consider  the  most  sensitive  parts  to  chills, 
but  on   the   shoulders.     Thus  arc  worn  the  small   and 


156  A    HISTORY   OF    MANKIND. 

solitary  deerskin  of  the  aboriginal  Californian/  the  seal- 
skin of  the  Fuegian,  and  the  cloak  of  the  Abipone^  and 
Mbaya  women.^ 

The  Eskimos  and  many  North  American  tribes  make 
leggings,  trousers  ;  coats  and  coverings  for  the  feet  v/ith 
the  aid  of  the  needle,  but  savages  generally  use  no  sev/ed 
garments.  In  Polynesia,  Australia  and  Africa,  there 
is  no  attempt  to  fit  bark  cloth,  woven  cloth,  matting  or 
skins,  to  the  body  or  limbs.  The  prehistoric  Europeans 
in  tilling  culture  before  the  discovery  of  bronze,  wore 
sewed  clothing  of  skins  and  linen.  Nearly  all  savages  go 
bareheaded ;  and  few  wear  a  covering  for  the  feet. 

Sec.  79.  Ornaments. — For  the  sake  of  ornament,  the 
savage  loads  his  nose,  lips,  ears,  wrists  and  ankles  with 
rings,  and  his  arms,  legs,  neck  and  waist  Avith  heavy  coils 
of  wire.  He  sacrifices  his  comfort  to  his  vanity.  He 
invests  a  considerable  part  of  his  wealth  in  the  purchase 
of  an  oppressive  burden. 

A  Mittoo  man  struts  about  with  a  chain  of  half-inch 
iron  welded  on  his  neck,  that  is  if  he  cannot  afford  copper 
or  brass,  which  are  more  stylish,  but  are  not  within  reach 
of  people  of  scanty  or  moderate  means.  A  Wanyam- 
wuezi  girl,  to  be  in  the  height  of  fashion,  should  have  a 
girdle  of  half-inch  hemp  rope  hidden  under  a  wrapping 
of  fine  brass  or  copper  wire.  The  Bongo  covers  both 
arms  from  wrist  to  elbow  with  brass  rings,  a  quarter  of 
an  inch  thick. ^  The  Chumberi  woman,  if  in  moderate 
station,  wears  a  brass  collar,  weighing  at  least  twenty 
pounds,  soldered  on  her  neck  ;  if  rich,  the  weight  should 
be  thirty  pounds.'^  Among  the  Dinkas,  it  is  not  a  rare 
occurrence  to  see  a  person  carrying  forty  pounds  of  cop- 
per ornaments.^  If  fashionable,  a  Santal  woman  should 
carry  thirty-four  pounds  of  metallic  ornaments,  including 


StC.    80.    HA  IK    DRESSING.  1 5/ 

four  in  each  of  her  bracelets  and  anklets,  and  eighteen 
in  her  collar.*  She  would  doubtless  feel  miserable  if 
she  should  meet  a  Congo  belle  with  a  load  of  seventy- 
five  pounds,  including  more  than  sixty  in  her  collar 
alone."  The  Wanika  woman  wears  a  quarter-inch  brass 
wire  closely  coiled  around  her  leg  from  ankle  to  knee ; 
and  the  Masai  girl,  besides  having  such  wrappings  on 
her  legs,  has  others  of  like  material  on  her  arms  from 
wrist  to  elbow.  These  coils  put  on  tightly  when  the  girl 
is  young,  and  never  taken  off,  prevent  the  growth  of  the 
muscles,  obstruct  ablution,  cause  troublesome  sores  and 
hinder  all  movements.  But  then  it  is  the  fashion.  The 
Taveta  girl  is  content  with  wire  coils  from  wrist  to  elbow. 
The  M-teita  girl  carries  twenty  or  thirty  pounds  of  beads. 
Such  ornaments  as  are  worn  in  ears,  nose,  lips  and  teeth 
will  be  mentioned  in  other  sections. 

Sec.  80.  Hair  Dressing. — In  many  savage  tribes  the 
hair  is  dressed  elaborately.  It  is  shaved  wholly  or  partly, 
bleached,  dyed,  smeared  with  grease,  stiffened  with  clay 
or  glutinous  material,  or  plaited  with  its  own  strands  or 
with  twine,  in  patterns  which  may  be  uniform  in  family, 
clan  or  tribe,  so  as  to  advertise  the  wearer's  nationality, 
rank  or  pedigree.  The  Andamanese,  and  some  Fijians, 
Wagogos,  Waswahilis  and  Tasmanians,  shave  the  head 
clean.  Many  Redmcn  shave  off  or  pull  out  the  hair  of 
the  head  save  a  spot  on  the  vertex,  where  a  scalp  lock  is 
preserved.  Much  of  the  head  is  shaved  by  the  Ovambos, 
Batokas,  Wagandos,  Watusi,  Watutas,  Wisigas,  Zulus, 
Marquesans,  Fijians  and  Hawaiians,  leaving  crests,  coro- 
nets, ridges,  or  spots  of  hair,  or  bare  spots  amidst  the 
hair. 

The  most  elaborate  hair  dressing  is  that  of  the  La- 
tookas,  whose  hair  is  interwoven  with  twine  and  covered 


158  A   HISTORY   OF    MANKIND. 

with  beads  so  elaborately,  that  years  are  required  to  com- 
plete the  work.  In  one  instance  the  task  was  not  finished 
until  after  a  lapse  of  eight  years.^  Next  to  the  Latookas, 
in  such  extravagance,  are  the  Ishogos,  Ashangos,  Bornus 
and  Fijians,all  of  which  tribes  have  large  mop-like  head- 
dresses which  they  cannot  comb  out  nor  rest  on  when 
lying  down.  They  sleep,  not  with  the  head  on  a  pillow, 
but  with  the  neck  on  a  little  trestle.  The  Fijian  head- 
dress is  frequently  a  foot,  and  occasionally  twenty  inches 
in  diameter.  The  Ishogo  wears  his  hair  in  a  cylinder 
interwoven  with  vegetable  fibre  rising  ten  inches  above 
the  skull ;  and  all  the  hair  below  the  base  of  the  cylinder 
is  shaved  off."  The  Ashango  man  and  the  Monbuttoo 
woman  wear  a  tower  of  hair  similar  to  that  of  the  Ishos-o. 
but  not  quite  so  elaborate.  The  Bornu  woman  divides 
her  hair  from  forehead  to  the  base  of  the  occiput  into 
three  parallel  sections,  each  of  which  is  worked  up  into 
a  hi*h  roll  and  kept  in  place  with  a  stiffening  of  wax.^ 
The  wearers  of  these  mops  and  baskets  cannot  comb  or 
wash  their  hair,  and  for  scratching,  must  use  long  bod- 
kins. The  Banyai*  of  South  Africa  and  the  Tannese^  di- 
vide the  hair  into  hundreds  of  little  parcels,  and  wrap 
each  from  end  to  end  with  thread,  so  that  the  head  seems 
to  be  covered  with  twine,  six  inches  long  and  a  sixteenth 
of  an  inch  thick.  The  Edeeyah,  on  the  western  coast  of 
Africa,  makes  his  hair  into  curly  tufts  stiffened  with 
grease  and  clay,  so  that  his  head  looks  as  if  covered  with 
a  hundred  short  cigars  fastened  to  the  scalp.  The  Fulah 
woman  has  similar  tufts  colored  deep  blue.  Some  Afri- 
cans shave  off  part  of  the  hair,  and  plaster  the  remainder 
into  clumps,  with  the  shape  and  size  of  buffalo  horns. 

Nearly  all  savages  dress  thsir  hair  with  some  unguent. 
In  Abyssinia  the  preferred  material  is  mutton  suet  which 


SEC.    8l.    OIL   AND    PAINT.  1^9 

has  been  chewed  for  two  hours.  Bear's  grease  is  used 
by  the  Redmen,  palm  oil  by  the  negroes,  and  cocoa-nut 
oil  by  the  Polynesians.  By  the  help  of  washes,  dyes  and 
paints,  the  natural  black  color  of  the  hair  is  changed  to 
white,  gray,  yellow,  orange,  red,  brown,  purple  or  blue, 
according  to  the  custom  of  the  tribe  or  the  caprice  of  the 
indivadual. 

A  fashion,  that  perhaps  had  its  origin  in  the  effort  to 
get  rid  of  troublesome  insects,®  requires  men  and  women, 
in  many  tribes,  to  carefully  pull  out  or  shave  off  all  the 
hair  on  body  or  face,  even  the  eyebrows  and  eyelashes. 

Sec.  8 1 .  Oil  and  Paint. — Unable  to  obtain  handsome 
cloth  with  which  to  hide  his  body,  the  savage  covers  it 
with  grease,  paint,  tattoo  and  scar.  Besides  being  a  pro- 
tection against  cold,  insects,  sun  and  rain,  a  coat  of 
unguent,  in  most  hot  countries  inhabited  by  savages,  is 
necessary  for  full  dress.  It  may  indicate  the  rank  of  the 
wearer.  Nearly  every  kind  of  grease  is  used  for  such 
purposes,  including  human  marrow  and  kidney  fat.  The 
last  gives  to  the  Australian  the  strength  and  courage  of 
his  slain  enemy,  as  well  as  protection  against  insects. 
The  Polynesians  and  Africans  perfume  their  oil,  but 
whether  perfumed  or  not,  it  soon  turns  rancid  and  then, 
if  the  man  can  afford  the  expense,  must  be  replaced  with 
a  new  coat. 

In  the  Pacific  Islands,  turmeric  is  mixed  with  the 
anointing  oil,  to  give  a  rich  brownish  yellow  color  to  the 
body.  Black  is  preferred  by  the  Haidahs,  soot  by  the 
Thlinkeets,  black  or  blue  by  the  Maoris,  red  by  the 
Indians  of  the  Mississippi  basin,  red  and  white  by  the 
Australians,  Congoese,  and  Andamanese;  and  red  by 
the  men  and  blue  by  the  women  of  Bonny.  For  festival 
occasions,  the  Areoi  nobles  of  Polynesia  had  scarlet  faces 


l60  A   HISTORY  OF   MANKIND. 

and  black  bodies.  The  Ganguellas  paint  their  faces  green. 
The  Gain  negroes,  cover  the  front  of  the  body  with 
diamond-shaped  blocks  of  alternating  hues.  The  mili- 
tary uniform  of  Obbo  is  a  combination  of  white,  yellow 
and  Vermillion  patches  or  stripes. 

In  some  tribes,  the  skin,  whether  greased  or  not,  must 
be  stained.  Among  the  Arabs  and  many  African  tribes, 
the  palms,  soles  and  finger-nails  are  dyed  brownish  red 
with  henna.  The  body  is  stained  orange  and  black  by 
the  Botocudos,  blood  red  by  the  Caribs,  and  blue  by  the 
Bornuese,  some  Brazilians  and  some  Zinder  women. 
The  legs  are  stained  red  wdth  blue  spots  by  the  Guiana 
Indians ;  the  backs  blue  by  Tahitian  women ;  the  faces 
yellow  by  the  Aheer  women;  the  lips  blue  by  the  Fans, 
and  blue  or  black  by  the  Maoris ;  and  the  gums  black 
by  the  Watusi  and  yellow  by  some  of  the  people  of  Sind. 

Sec.  82.  Tattoo. — In  ornamentation  of  the  savage  per- 
son, tattoo  comes  next  to  oil  and  paint.  It  is  used  wath 
the  greatest  liberality  in  the  tropics  where  the  general 
nudity  allows  it  to  be  seen  at  all  seasons,  but  is  also 
found  in  very  cold  climates,  where  it  is  ordinarily 
restricted  to  the  face.  However,  it  is  not  always  intended 
for  the  inspection  of  strangers.  The  most  complete  tat- 
too is  that  of  the  Marquesans,  whose  bodies,  face,  scalp, 
neck  and  limbs  to  the  tips  of  the  fingers  and  toes,  are 
covered,  the  scalp  being  shaved  for  the  purpose.  The 
Maoris  and  Mundrucus  also  indulge  in  elaborate  tattoo. 
Most  of  the  tattoo  of  the  Fiji  woman  is  between  the  waist 
and  mid-thigh,  where,  after  she  has  children,  it  is  con- 
cealed by  the  fringed  girdle.  The  Kayan  Dyak  woman 
has  a  similar  decoration,  but  to  exhibit  it,  she  wears  a 
skirt  open  at  the  sides.  In  many  tribes,  the  tattoo  is 
in  beautiful   lace-like   patterns.     An  imitation  stocking 


SEC.    82.    TATTOO.  161 

covers  the  legs  of  the  Pelew  and  Tahitian  women.  The 
tattoo  of  the  Bari  negro  is  like  a  covering  of  the  fish 
scales;  that  of  the  Kanowit  Dyak  like  chain  armor. 

The  tattoo  of  the  Red  Karen  is  limited  to  the  back ; 
that  of  the  Tongataboo  woman  to  the  palm  ;  that  of  the 
Ratak  woman  to  the  neck  and  bosom  ;  that  of  the  Nono- 
mea  woman  to  the  shoulder  and  abdomen ;  that  of  the 
Fan  woman  to  the  breast  and  abdomen  ;  that  of  the  Tahi- 
tian man  to  the  breast,  leg,  arm  and  hand ;  that  of  the  Ta- 
hitian woman  to  the  leg  below  the  knee  and  to  the  arm; 
that  of  the  Micronesian  man  to  the  body  and  limbs ;  that 
of  the  Toda  woman  to  the  chest,  leg  and  arm ;  that  of 
the  Nuehr  chief  to  horizontal  wrinkle-like  lines  on  the 
forehead  ;  and  that  of  the  Eskimos,  Aleuts,  Chookchees 
and  Tungooses  to  the  face. 

Besides  its  purpose  of  decoration,  tattoo  serves  in  vari- 
ous tribes  to  designate  blood  or  rank,^  to  give  a  ferocious 
expression  to  the  warrior,^  to  make  a  record  of  some 
brave  exploit  or  notable  experience  ;  to  consecrate  the 
wearer  to  a  fetish  * ;  to  mark  the  ownership  of  a  slave ; 
to  announce  the  arrival  of  a  girl  or  boy  at  puberty,  or 
the  admission  of  a  young  man  into  the  warrior  class  ;  or, 
as  is  supposed,  to  protect  the  persons  against  chills.* 

In  Polynesia  the  process  of  tattooing  is  a  religious 
ceremony,  and  is  performed  by  priests,  while  the  sub- 
ject is  under  a  taboo  or  ecclesiastical  consecration. 
Without  tattoo  the  man  has  no  favor  with  the  gods; 
and  he  cannot  enter  a  temple ;  in  Pelew  the  girl  cannot 
marry.*  Among  the  Rcdmcn,  the  warrior  is  often  seen 
with  his  totem  tattooed  on  his  breast.  The  tattoo  of  the 
totem  of  a  hostile  tribe  under  a  tomahawk  or  knife 
shows  that  he  has  shiin  an  enemy.  A  Tahitian  had  all 
the  islands  known  to  him  tattooed  on  his  body,  and  thus 
II 


1 62  A    HISTORY    OF    MANKIND. 

he  carried  his  map  of  the  world  with  him.  A  Polynesian 
wife  was  tattooed  with  the  emblems  of  the  male  ances- 
tors of  her  husband ;  she  was  a  heraldic  record.* 

Many  tribes  require  their  members  to  be  marked  with 
scars,  usually  made  by  rubbing  a  cut  through  the  skin 
with  some  pigment  or  acrid  mineral,  or  by  searing  it  with 
red-hot  stone  or  metal.  The  breast  and  shoulders  are  the 
parts  on  which  the  scars  are  placed  by  most  of  the  scari- 
fying tribes ;  but  the  face,  abdomen,  shoulders,  hips, 
arms  and  legs  are  also  used.  The  patterns  include 
straight  lines,  crescents,  circles,  and  stars  on  a  level  with 
the  adjacent  skin,  and  lumps  like  peas,  small  and  large 
beans,  fingers,  and  eggs.  They  are  produced  in  many 
different  ways,  one  process  being  to  thrust  a  needle 
through  the  skin,  twist  it  and  fasten  it  in  the  twisted 
position  until  the  lump  becomes  permanent.^  The  great- 
est number  of  scars  habitually  worn  by  the  average  man 
is  perhaps  in  Bornu,  where  he  has  ninety-one,  including 
twenty  on  each  side  of  the  face,  between  the  mouth  and  the 
ear,  six  on  each  arm  and  leg,  nine  on  each  side  above 
the  hips,  and  one  in  the  center  of  the  forehead.*  The 
cicatrices  of  the  Rubengas  are  compared  in  size  to  hen's 
eggs  f  those  of  the  Kordofanese  to  pigeon's  eggs  ;^**  those 
of  New  Guinea  to  fingers." 

Sec.  St,.  Mutilations. — In  Africa,  Australia  and  Mi- 
cronesia, we  find  the  habits  of  breaking  out,  chipping 
and  filing  the  teeth.  Among  the  reasons  given  for  these 
customs  are  the  desire  for  a  fashionable  lisp,^  the  dis- 
grace of  having  mouths  like  those  of  apes,^  or  of  eating 
with  all  one's  teeth  like  a  horse,'  and  the  duty  of  making 
one's  mouth  resemble  that  of  a  cow.*  Some  of  the  tribes 
which  draw  their  reasons  from  cows  do  not  possess  those 
animals;  as  they  break  out  teeth  in  both  jaws,  so  they  do 


SEC.    83.    MUTILATIONS.  163 

not  imitate  their  pretended  models  closely.  Among  the 
causes  that  ma)-  have  led  to  the  origin  of  these  customs 
are  the  marking  of  captives,  mutilation  in  mourning,  or 
the  subjection  of  young  people  to  tests  of  endurance. 

The  canine  teeth  are  taken  out  by  the  Penangs ;  the 
two  upper  middle  incisors  by  the  Micronesians,  Batokos, 
Aponos,  Ambriz,  Missurongos,  Ishogos,  Wagogos,  Ma- 
tongas,  Marutse  men  and  Ashango  women ;  the  two 
lower  middle  incisors  by  the  Bongos,  Dinkas,  Shirs, 
Wanyamwuezi,  and  many  other  tribes  of  Equatorial 
Africa ;  the  four  lower  incisors  by  the  Shillooks,  Wan- 
yoros,  Latookas,  and  Bari  men ;  the  four  upper  incisors 
by  the  Mushukulumbos,  and  the  four  incisors  ant!  two 
canine  teeth  of  the  lower  jaw  by  the  Karagwahs. 

By  the  Fans,  Mushukungus,  Apongos,  Ashiras,  Bush- 
ingas,  some  Congoese,  and  various  tribes  of  New  Guinea, 
all  the  front  teeth,  not  broken  out,  are  filed  to  points, 
"  making  their  smile  like  that  of  a  crocodile,"  as  Liv- 
ingstone says.  The  corners  of  the  lower  incisors  are 
chipped  off,  and  those  of  the  upper  incisors  are  filed  off 
by  the  Niamniams,  for  the  purpose,  as  they  explain  it,  of 
catching  secure  hold  of  their  enemies  in  battle.  In  sev- 
eral tribes  of  the  Congo  basin,  a  diamond-shaped  optn- 
ing  is  broken  out  between  the  middle  upper  and  lowcr 
incisors,  perhaps,  as  Burton  thinks,  to  make  a  place  for  a 
pipe.  Triangular  openings  are  broken  in  the  incisors  by 
the  Damaras  and  the  Gan":uellas. 

Among  the  Eskimos,  Greenlanders,  Fuegians  and 
many  North  American  savages  who  ha\e  reached  mid- 
dle life,  the  teeth  arc  worn  nearly  to  the  level  of  the 
gums,  probably  in  consequence  of  the  sand  and  dirt  in 
their  food.  The  custom  of  filing  down  the  teeth  how- 
ever is  practiced  by  the  women  of  Timorlaut*  and  Suma- 


164  A    HISTORY   OF    MANKIND. 

tra®,  and  by  some  Indians  of  California'.  Teeth  worn  to 
the  level  of  the  gums  have  been  found  in  the  skulls  of 
the  prehistoric  inhabitants  of  France,  Belgium  and 
Denmark,  and  of  the  ancient  Egyptians. 

Brass  rivets  in  the  teeth  and  little  copper  plates  fast- 
ened, with  rivets,  on  the  teeth,  are  found  among  the 
Dyaks.' 

The  teeth  are  stained  blue,  yellow  or  purple  by  the 
Fulah  women,  the  three  colors  being  sometimes  found 
in  one  mouth.  The  Dyaks  stain  theirs  black  in  mourn- 
ing ;  and  teeth  stained  red  or  black  are  not  rare  in  the 
Micronesian  and  Melanesian  islands.  The  teeth  of. 
Malays  are  prepared  for  taking  dye,  by  filing  off  the 
enamel,  and  are  generally  discolored  by  the  betel  quid.^ 

The  custom  of  flattening  the  infantile  skull,  between 
boards,  has  prevailed  among  the  Samoans,  Hawaiians, 
Nicobarese,  Caribs,  Araucans,  Quichuans,  and  many 
Redmen  of  modern  times  as  well  as  among  the  ancient 
Scythians,  and  the  prehistoric  inhabitants  of  France, 
Belgium,  Wales,  Hungary,  Silesia,  Southern  Russia  and 
Northern  Africa.  This  distortion  of  the  skull,  or  unmis- 
takable traces  of  it,  have  be.en  found  in  all  the  continents 
save  Australia.  It  may  have  had  its  origin  in  the  habit 
of  tying  the  head  as  well  as  the  body  to  a  board.  Such 
fastening  is  convenient  when  infants  are  to  be  carried  on 
horseback,^"  and  might  be  useful  as  a  precaution  for  sud- 
den attack,  when  the  mother  wants  to  escape  leading  a 
child  of  five  or  six  with  one  hand  while,  with  the  other, 
she  carries  a  suckling. 

For  the  purpose  of  flattening  its  skull,  the  infant  is 
tied  with  its  back  on  a  board  on  the  upper  end  of  which 
is  tied  a  shorter  board  which  presses  on  the  forehead. 
The  head  takes  the  shape  of  a  wedge  with  the  edge  at 


SEC.    83.    MUTILATIONS.  1 65 

the  vertex.  Though  this  pressure  continues  for  a  year, 
the  shape  thus  given  is  not  permanent,  as  the  skull  grad- 
ually re\-erts  towards  the  natural  type,  which  however  it 
never  reaches.  After  having  been  accustomed  to  the 
pressure,  the  child  cries  when  it  is  taken  off." 

In  the  head-flattening  tribes,  a  head  of  natural  shape 
is  considered  ugly;  and  the  privilege  of  beautification 
by  the  flattening  process  is  denied  to  slaves. 

The  Greenlanders,  Hottentots,  Tahitians  and  Suma- 
trans  admire  breadth  in  the  nose,  and  press  it  flat,  and 
the  Botocudos  mash  down  the  nasal  bones.^^ 

Besides  gashing  themselves  in  mourning,  many  savages 
cut  ofl'a  finger  joint  until  they  have  lost  as  many  as  they 
can  spare.  Some  Australians  tie  a  string  tightly  round 
the  little  finger  of  the  left  hand  of  the  newly-born  girl 
infant,  and  in  a  few  days  it  is  severed.  The  reason  given 
for  this  mutilation  is  that  that  finger  is  in  the  way  when 
the  woman  winds  up  a  fish  line. 

The  women  of  the  Congo/^  and  Loando  desire  to  have 
pendent  breasts,  and  pull  them  and  tie  bands  over  them 
so  as  to  make  them  a  foot  long.  The  Wasagara,  Sanda 
and  Siamese  women  wrap  cloths  tightly  round  the  body 
just  below  the  armpit,  so  as  to  prevent  the  natural  shape 
of  the  breast  from  being  seen.'*  The  Samoan  women  are 
nude  above  the  waist  and  carefully  train  the  nipple  so 
tluit  it  shall  turn  up.'''  Singular  mutilations  about  which 
our  information  is  not  very  full  are  the  amputations  of 
the  mammie  of  male  Zingeros  in  Shoa,'^  and  of  the 
Akalunga  and  Kasangulowa  women,''  the  boring  of  the 
nipples  of  warriors  in  Georgia  for  the  insertion  of  pieces 
of  cane  *" ;  anrl  the  piercing  of  holes  in  the  chest  by  the 
Bongos  for  the  purpose  of  wearing  wooden  skewers 
there.'' 


1 66  A  HISTORY    OF    MANKIND. 

Some  Sumatrans  pull  their  ears  to  make  them  stand 
out  from  the  head ;  and  various  South  American  tribes 
stretch  their  ears  so  that  it  is  said  in  exaggeration  that  a 
man  can  use  one  ear  for  a  mattress  and  another  for  a 
covering  while  he  sleeps.  The  Melanesians,  the  Indians 
of  Georgia,  and  the  Kukis  cut  out  the  interior  lobe  of 
the  ear  to  make  a  hole  for  inserting  ornaments.  Some 
tribes  pierce  a  dozen  holes  for  rings  round  the  border  of 
the  ear,  or  cut  slits  and  wrap  the  separated  edge  with 
wire.  The  weight  of  the  ornaments  is  so  great  in  many 
cases  that  it  is  necessary  to  support  the  ear  by  strings  or 
chains  over  the  tops  of  the  head.'" 

Among  the  articles  carried  in  the  ear  holes  are  hollow 
cylinders  three  inches  in  diameter  and  four  inches  long 
by  the  Caroline  Islanders  ;  tobacco  pipes  by  the  Kusaye 
Melanesians ;  pin-cushions  by  the  Arowaks ;  nosegays 
by  some  Amazon  Indians  ;  fish-bladders,  live  snakes  and 
feathers  by  the  Indians  of  Georgia ;  shell  disks  attached 
to  stems  four  inches  long  and  a  quarter  of  an  inch  thick 
by  the  Marquesans  ;  pegs  like  a  cigar  in  size  and  shape 
by  the  Monbuttoos;  brass  studs  by  the  Waswahili ;  large 
brass  disks  by  the  Tavetas  ;  and  gourd-necks  full  of 
tobacco  by  the  M'sagara. 

These  methods  of  ornamenting  the  ears  are  not  lim- 
ited to  the  women,  but  are  practiced  as  extensively  by 
the  men,  and  are  found  in  nearly  all  savage  tribes. 
Alone  among  the  Polynesians,  the  Hawaiians  did  not 
punch  their  ears.  The  ears  of  the  people  in  the  frigid 
zone  are  usually  hidden  on  account  of  the  cold,  and 
therefore  are  not  used  as  vehicles  for  ornaments. 

The  savacfe  nose  carries  ornaments  thrust  through  the 
septum  or  the  wings,  and  in  some  few  tribes  through  the 
bridge.     A  hole  in  the  septum  is  decorated  with  a  por- 


SEC.    S^.    MUTILATIONS.  1 6/ 

1     ,  CLipine    quill,    a   feather    or   a    stick    eight  inches    long 

obstructing  the  nostrils,  so  that  the  wearer  is  compelled 
to  breathe  through  his  mouth  f^  or  it  supports  a  ring  two 
inches  in  diameter,  and  then  he  cannot  eat  or  drink  with- 
out lifting  up  the  ring;  or  it  offers  a  passage  for  a  string 
which  is  tied  at  the  back  of  the  head."^  The  lower  part 
of  the  septum  is  cut  out  by  the  Klickatats.'"'*  The  only 
ornaments  worn  in  the  nostrils  are  rings.  In  New  Zea- 
land, feathers  and  sticks  decorate  a  hole  in  the  bridge  of 
the  nose,"'^  and  in  IMallicollo,  Cook  saw  a  cylinder  of 
quartz  an  inch  and  a  half  long  carried  in  the  same  place. 
Both  lips  and  the  cheek,  near  the  corner  of  the  mouth, 
are  pierced  for  studs,  pegs,  blocks,  rings  or  bead  strings. 
Double-headed  bone  studs  decorate  the  mouth  corners  of 
the  Eskimos,  and  when  the  studs  are  out,  the  saliva 
escapes.  The  lower  lip  supports  a  bone  stud  among  the 
Unalaskans  and  the  Caribs ;  a  piece  of  cane  among  the 
Georgian  Indians ;  a  cylinder  of  quartz  four  inches  long 
among  the  Latookas ;  a  cylinder  of  the  same  material, 
three  inches  long  and  three  quarters  of  an  inch  thick 
among  the  Mittoos  ;  a  string  of  beads  among  the  Kodi- 
aks ;  a  bung  two  inches  in  diameter  among  the  Botocu- 
dos  (so  named  from  "botoque"  Portuguese  for  bung); 
and  block  labrets  three  inches  loivj;  and  two  wide  amonir 
the  Ahts.  Dall  mentions  one  such  labret  five  inches 
long  and  two  inches  wide.  This  block  drags  the  lip  out 
of  place,  exposes  the  teeth  and  gums  to  view,  and  presses 
the  teeth  out  of  place  ;  and  when  taken  out,  the  upper 
portion  of  the  lip  hangs  down  like  a  string.  The  Batoka 
women  wear  pulley-like  rings  three  inches  in  diameter  in 
both  lips  which  then  .stick  out  Iiorizontally  like  the  bill 
of  ;i  bird;  but  wluMi  the  we  U'er  lauglis,  the  upper  ring 
assumes  a  vertical  i)osition,  partly  hiding  the  eyes  and 


1 68  A    HISTORY   OF   MANKIND. 

allowing  the  end  of  the  nose  to  be  seen  through  the 


ring. 


Circumcision  was  common  in  the  valley  of  the  Nile 
as  early  as  3000  b.  c./^  and  was  practiced  by  the  Arabs, 
Libyans  and  other  oriental  peoples  at  the  earliest  date 
known  to  history  or  tradition.  By  Spencer,  its  origin  is 
attributed  to  the  policy  of  taking  trophies  from  male 
captives  without  diminishing  their  value  for  slave  labor. 
Lippert  thinks  the  sacrifice  of  blood  in  worship  may 
have  been  the  main  motive.  Similar  mutilations,  some 
of  them  more  painful  and  more  remarkable,  were  prac- 
ticed in  Australia  and  the  Pacific  Islands."^ 

Sec.  84.  Social  Development. — In  social  life,  as  in 
industry,  we  are  not  able  to  trace  much  development 
within  the  limits  of  any  savage  tribe.  In  some  few 
countries  we  find  traditions  of  customs  ruder  than  those 
prevalent  in  modern  times,  but  these  traditions  are  too 
vague  or  too  doubtful,  in  the  date  of  origin,  to  be  trust- 
worthy. In  this  as  in  other  developments  of  savage 
culture,  we  must  find  the  main  traces  of  progress  not  in 
the  advance  of  one  tribe,  but  in  the  comparison  of  the 
various  conditions  of  different  tribes.  The  higher  have 
grown  out  of  the  lower  phases. 

We  have  seen  that  the  family,  in  the  modern  sense  of 
the  word — that  is,  the  man  with  his  wife  or  wives  and 
children — as  a  distinct  component  part  of  the  State, 
either  does  not  exist  in  the  lowest  known  tribes,  or  oc- 
cupies a  very  unimportant  place  as  compared  with  its 
position  in  civilized  countries.  The  earliest  social  organ- 
ization, known  to  us  by  inference  and  not  by  direct  ob- 
servation, was  the  promiscuous  group,  which  gave  way 
by  a  small  change  to  the  feminine  clan.  The  latter  re- 
tained the  group  as  the  main  feature  of  the  social  organ- 


SEC.    84.    SOCIAL    DEVELOPMENT.  1 69 

ization,  preserved  the  rule  of  maternal  descent,  and  per- 
mitted half  of  the  previous  promiscuousness.  The  mod- 
ification was  the  least  possible  to  be  a  substantial  modifi- 
cation ;  it  was  a  great  reform  in  the  direction  of  the  least 
resistance. 

In  the  course  of  progress,  the  feminine  clan,  having 
become  unsatisfactory,  gave  way  to  another  institution,  a 
little  higher  on  the  scale  of  social  development.  Its 
successor,  the  masculine  clan,  retained  the  rule  of  trac- 
ing descent  from  one  parent  exclusively,  but  transferred 
it  from  the  maternal  to  the  paternal  side.  It  restricted 
the  polyandrous  habits  of  the  women  in  the  earlier  con- 
dition, but  permitted  the  men  to  enjoy  most  of  their 
previous  polygynous  privilege.  It  was  another  great 
reform  in  the  direction  of  the  least  resistance.  It  gave 
the  wife  as  an  exclusiv-e  possession  to  the  husband, 
made  her  chastity  precious,  and  converted  her  and  her 
virtue  into  articles  of  marketable  value.  It  founded  the 
famiK'  which,  though  long  subordinate  to  the  masculine 
clan,  finally  supplanted  it. 

Monogamy,  as  the  only  legal  sexual  relation,  is  un- 
known in  the  large  savage  families — including  Redmcn, 
Negroes,  and  Australians, — and  also  in  those  families  un- 
infiuenced  by  contact  with  a  higher  culture.  Among 
other  tribes  it  is  rare.  Although  we  may  say  in  general 
terms,  that  it  does  not  belong  to  the  domain  of  savage 
life,  still,  attention  may  here  be  called  to  the  fact  that  it 
continues  the  policy  adopted  in  savagism,  of  placing 
more  and  more  restriction  on  primitive  promiscuousness. 
The  feminine  clan,  the  masculine  clan,  the  polygynous 
family  and  the  monogamous  family  form  a  series  of  in- 
creasing checks  upon  the  sexual  relation. 


CHAPTER  V 

INTELLECTUAL  LIFE. 

Section  85,  Capacity. — The  influence  of  advanced 
culture  shows  itself  in  many  points,  including  the  size 
of  skull,  which  in  the  modern  Euraryan  has  an  average 
internal  capacity  of  ninety-one  cubic  inches  ;  in  the  Afri- 
can eighty-five,  and  in  the  Australian  seventy-nine/ 
The  first  has  five  and  a  half  per  cent,  more  brain  than  the 
second,  and  twelve  per  cent,  more  than  the  last.  Such  a 
cerebral  superiority  in  favor  of  the  white  man,  and  the 
advantages  of  his  geograjjhical  position,  accumulating 
their  influences  for  thousands  of  years,  account  for  his 
higher  mental  development. 

The  gratification  of  the  physical  wants,  and  the  exer- 
cise of  the  coarser  passions  in  war  and  the  chase,  occupy 
a  much  larger  place  relatively  in  the  life  of  the  savage 
than  in  that  of  the  civilized  man.  The  former  has  no 
occupations  or  amusements  of  a  refined,  intellectual  char- 
acter, no  art,  no  science,  no  literature,  no  theater,  no 
book,  no  philanthropic  institution.  He  lives  in  a  small 
world.''  Such  few  pleasures  as  he  has  are  much  \veak- 
ened  by  the  dominant  conditions  of  insecurity,  distrust, 
and  animosity. 

As  compared  with  the  civilized  man,  the  savage 
spends  much  of  his  time  in  a  condition  of  mental  torpor. 

(170) 


SEC.    85.    CAPACITY.  I/I 

He  has  little  continuity  of  thought,  little  depth  of  sym- 
pathetic feeling.  His  mental  condition  is  half-way  be- 
tween that  of  the  civilized  man  and  that  of  the  brute. 
So  soon  as  a  few  physical  wants  are  gratified,  he  be- 
comes Hstless.  Dr.  Pickering  who,  as  ethnologist  of 
the  Wilkes  Exploring  Expedition,  had  become  familiar 
with  many  tribes,  said  the  Fijians  were  the  only  savages, 
within  the  range  of  his  observation,  "  who  could  give 
reasons  and  with  whom  it  was  possible  to  hold  a  con- 
n^-xted  conversation."''  The  average  savage  mind  soon 
tires  when  led  into  new  subjects  of  conversation;  and  for 
this  reason,  the  attempts  of  scholars  to  investigate  the 
laneuaees,  reli<jion,  and  customs  of  low  tribes  often 
yield  very  meagre  results.  The  informants  are  worried 
and  confused  by  inquiries  about  the  causes  of  their  cus- 
toms about  which  they  have  never  reasoned.  The  East 
Africans  lose  their  patience  within  ten  minutes,  when 
questioned  so  long  about  their  system  of  numeration.* 
The  Abipones  soon  grow  weary  of  examining  any  con- 
fused subject.*  The  Aht  of  British  Columbia,  after  a 
few  minutes  of  questioning  about  matters  requiring  any 
effort  of  thought  or  memory,  appears  to  rock  to  and  fro 
out  of  mere  weakness.®  The  savage  finds  great  difficulty 
in  keeping  up  any  steady  intellectual  effort,  especially  in 
unfamiliar  lines  of  thought.  His  digestive  system  is 
better  suited  than  that  of  the  civilized  man  for  alterna- 
tions of  excessive  repletion  and  prolonged  hunger,  but 
this  physical  irregularity  is  less  potent,  than  mental  in- 
stability, in  rendering  him  averse  to  constant  toil.  He 
mu.st  be  exposed  to  civilizing  influences  for  generations, 
before  he  acquires  the  intellectual  energy  needed  to  fit 
him  for  high  industrial  productivene.s.s.  The  inheritance 
of  such  energy  by  the  mass  of  the  people  is  a  distin- 


172  A   HISTORY    OF    MANKIND, 

guishing  characteristic  and  most  valuable  possession  of 
civilized  life ;  the  lack  of  it  in  the  savages,  is  a  leading 
cause  of  their  gradual  extinction. 

On  account  of  the  weakness  and  unsteadiness  of  their 
reason,  men  in  a  low  condition  of  culture  are  unable  to 
form  distinct  conceptions  of  the  remote  future  conse- 
quences of  their  conduct,  or  to  organize  extensive  and 
durable  political  or  industrial  combinations.  They  care 
little  about  logical  consistency ;  they  make  conflicting 
statements  without  perceiving  that  the  conflict  implies 
error;  and  they  do  not  try  to  lay  down  fundamental 
principles  with  which  their  actions  and  words  must  har- 
monize. The  Malagasy,  who  has  a  high  place  in  savag- 
ism,  prays  to  his  ancestors,''  and  yet  says  that  he  will 
cease  to  exist  when  he  dies. 

The  Damara  who  is  exceptionally  stupid,  though  per- 
fectly familiar  with  "  an  infinity  of  local  details"  about 
the  geography  of  his  country,  has  no  map  of  it  in  his 
mind.  He  may  know  the  road  from  A  to  B,  and  from 
B  to  C,  which  last  is  equally  distant  from  the  other  two 
points,  and  yet  he  has  no  idea  of  a  straight  line  from  A  to 
C.^  However,  such  stupidity  in  regard  to  travel  is  rare 
among  savages ;  most  tribes  are  acute  not  only  in  their 
perceptions  and  memories,  but  also  in  their  general  ideas 
and  reasonings  about  the  topography  of  the  regions  in 
which  they  live. 

His  keen  senses,  his  open  air  life,  and  his  habit  of 
watching  his  game  and  spending  much  time  in  hunting  and 
warfare,  train  the  savage,  notwithstanding  his  usual  mental 
torpidity,  to  observe  the  face  of  nature  very  closely,  and 
to  correctly  interpret  signs  that  would  not  be  observed 
by  civilized  men,  or  would  have  no  meaning  for  them. 
He  recognizes  individual  men,  horses,  and  cows  by  their 


SEC.    85.    CAPACITY.  173 

tracks;  he  can  follow  each  along  a  dusty  road  over  which 
many  others  passed  afterwards;  can  tell  whether  they  were 
alone  or  in  company,  and  how  long  a  time  approximately 
has  elapsed  since  the  track  was  made.  Every  pebble 
knocked  from  its  natural  resting  place,  every  twig  broken, 
and  every  plant  stem  crushed,  has  something  to  tell  him. 
Civilized  men  never  learn  to  equal  the  savage  in  such 
perceptions  and  indications;  they  cannot  give  all  their  at- 
tention to  the  observation  of  such  phases  of  nature.  Be- 
cause of  a  lack  of  training  for  his  reason,  the  savage  is 
impulsive.  In  him,  the  emotions  are  relatively  stronger 
than  in  the  cixilized  man.  It  has  been  said  of  him  that 
"He  has  the  passions  of  a  man  and  the  reason  of  a 
child;  "  and  that  he  "  has  the  incapacity  of  infancy,  and 
the  unpliancy  of  old  age." 

Although  the  Malays  and  aboriginal  North  Americans 
are  stolid  in  their  manner,  the  lower  races  generally  are 
often  controlled  by  inconsiderate  impulse.  They  are 
ready  to  give  way  to  the  passion  of  the  moment.  They 
can  be  readily  influenced  by  any  person  who  understands 
how  to  turn  their  attention  to  some  minor  prejudice, 
connected  with  the  main  question  under  consideration. 
They  laugh  and  cry  easily,  and  can  suddenly  turn  from 
tlie  hilarious  to  the  lachrymose  mood  and  back  again, 
under  the  influence  of  suggestions  that  would  have  no 
effect  on  the  average  civilized  mind.  The  most  sincere 
lamentations  at  a  Polynesian  funeral  arc  sometimes  inter- 
rupted by  a  little  incident  such  as  tlic  turning  of  a 
bug  to  escape  at  the  sight  of  another  bug,  and  there  will 
be  a  general  outbreak  of  the  heartiest  laughter,  which 
will  suddenly  stop,  to  be  followed  by  unanimous  howling 
of  the  mo.st  lugubrious  tone.  It  is  not  discreditable  to 
the  Maori  or  Fijian  warrior  to  shed  copious  tears  about 


1/4  A    HISTORY    OF    MANKIND. 

slight  vexations;  or  to  give  way  in  the  presence  of 
strangers,  to  the  most  furious  anger  when  he  has  stum- 
bled over  a  stone.  The  negroes,  negritoes,  and  Polyne- 
sians are  boisterously  merry;  they  laugh  immoderately 
at  trifles'  and  are  always  frolicking.  The  Kamtschat- 
kans  are  excitable  and  almost  hysterical  in  temper;^®  the 
Papuans  are  "impetuous;"  the  Fuegians  are  "loud  and 
furious  talkers;"  the  Andamanese  are  "frightfully  pas- 
sionate;" the  Fijians  are  "extremely  changeable  in  dis- 
position;" the  common  conversation  of  the  Arabs  resem- 
bles a  continual  quarrel;  and  angry  disputes  ending  in 
violence  are  common  among  the  Bushmen." 

Many  tribes  are  wonderfully  dull  in  their  arithmetical 
conceptions.  Of  the  Damaras,  we  are  told  that  if  one 
has  several  sheep  to  sell  he  will  not  take  a  round  sum 
for  the  lot,  but  must  be  paid  for  each  animal  separately. 
Any  other  method  of  procedure  confuses  him  and  leaves 
him  in  doubt  whether  he  has  not  been  cheated.  Thus  when 
he  has  two  sheep  for  sale  and  his  price  is  two  plugs  of 
tobacco  for  one,  he  cannot  comprehend  that  four  plugs 
will  pay  for  two.  He  insists  on  receiving  payment  for 
one,  which  he  delivers,  and  then  he  is  ready  to  accept 
the  other  two  plugs  -for  the  other  sheep. 

In  a  similar  manner  the  Redman  sells  his  furs.  At  the 
close  of  the  hunting  season  he  takes  his  bundle  of  pelts 
to  the  trading-post,  but  he  does  not  sell  the  whole  lot  at 
one  bargain.  Keeping  his  bundle  in  his  tent  he  there 
unties  it  and  takes  one  pelt  at  a  time  to  the  white  trader 
and  gets  his  pay  for  it,  before  exhibiting  another.  His 
main  motive  for  this  method  of  procedure  is  his  distrust 
of  his  powers  of  keeping  a  complicated  account  either  in 
his  head,  or  by  any  system  of  marks.  An  Eskimo,  when 
asked  how  many  children  he  had,  tried  unsuccessfully  to 


SEC.    86.    PREPONDERANT    PRESENT.  1/5 

count  them  on  his  fingers,  and  then  asked  his  wife.^'^ 
Savages  generally  do  not  know  their  ages.  The  Green- 
landers  keep  count  of  the  years  till  about  twenty,  but  not 
afterwards.  In  Western  Afi^ica  it  is  considered  impious 
to  number  the  years. ^* 

Sec.  86.  Prcponderam  Present. — Savages  think  much 
of  to-day  and  little  of  to-morrow.  They  have  a  scanty 
regard  for  the  remote  future.  They  are  the  children  of 
the  moment.  The\^  want  immediate  gratification.  Of 
the  Brazilian  Indian  we  are  told  that  "he thinks  of  noth- 
ing except  the  matters  that  immediately  concern  his 
daily  material  wants ; "  ^  and  of  the  East  African  that 
his  mind  "  will  not,  apparently  cannot,  escape  from  the 
circle  of  sense,  nor  will  it  occupy  itself  with  aught  but 
the  present."  ^  The  Bedouin  "judges  of  things  as  he  sees 
them  present  before  him,  not  in  their  causes  and  conse- 
quences." ^  Crantz  tells  us  that  the  Greenlanders  give 
no  thought  to  anything  except  the  occupations  necessary 
to  their  existence.*  Baker  observed  that  the  Nyanza 
negroes  had  little  care  for  anything  beyond  the  gratifica- 
tion of  their  physical  wants.*  Fritsch  calls  the  Bushman 
"  the  unhappy  child  of  the  moment."  ^  The  low  .sav- 
age's disregard  of  the  future  is  a  prominent  feature  of  his 
mental  condition,  and  a  necessary  result  of  his  mode  of 
life.  He  has  no  facilities  for  accumulating  j^ropert)-,  nor 
any  mode  of  protecting  it  after  accumulation.  There  are 
regions  in  both  Americas,  in  Australia  and  Africa  where 
the  aborigines  seldom  have  a  supply  of  food  sufficient  f  )r 
a  day  in  advance.  He  who  obtains  a  supply  is  required 
by  public  opinion,  to  divide  with  his  neighbors.  It  is 
accumulation  that  gives  importance  to  the  future,  and 
.stimulates  man  to  weigh  the  relative  values  of  the  grati- 
fications of  to-day  and    to-morrow.      Such    calculation 


1/6  A   HISTORY   OF   MANKIND. 

gives  to  civilized  communities  a  thoughtful  seriousness 
very  different  from  the  childlike  playfulness  of  savages. 
The  remark  has  been  made  that  after  the  aborigines  of 
South  Africa  have  lived  for  a  time  in  the  service  of  white 
masters,  and  have  learned  the  advantages  of  preparing 
for  the  future,  they  lose  their  previous  jovial  manner, 
which  had  been  the  outgrowth  of  their  early  blindness 
and  indifference  to  all  save  immediate  results.' 

Sec.  ^y.  Early  Maturity. — In  many  tribes  the  chil- 
dren, and  especially  the  boys,  when  eight  and  ten  years 
old,  must  begin  to  hunt  berries,  roots,  seeds,  and  small 
birds  and  quadrupeds,  for  portion  of  their  food  ;  and  it  is 
expected  that  before  fifteen  they  shall  acquire  much  ex- 
pertness  in  catching  and  killing  small  game.  By  this 
practice,  and  perhaps  also  by  a  peculiarity  of  their  nature, 
they  are  relatively  more  mature  than  civilized  children  of 
the  same  age,  and  their  observant  faculties  are  specially 
acute.  Before  they  are  old  enough  to  walk,  Australian 
children  are  taught  to  dig  for  worms  which  they  eat.^ 
In  the  basin  of  the  Gazelle  River,  Africa,  boys  eight  years 
of  age  often  wander  away  from  home  because  they  can 
supply  themselves  with  food.^ 

As  Spencer  says,  "  The  primitive  intellect  is  relatively 
simple,  develops  more  rapidly  and  earlier  reaches  its 
limit  "  than  that  of  the  civilized  man.^  The  children  are 
more  precocious  mentally  and  physically.  The  Equa- 
torial African  children  are,  according  to  Winwood  Reade, 
*'  absurdly  precocious  ;"*  of  the  West  African,  we  are  told 
that  they  are  remarkably  sharp  before  puberty,  and  of 
the  Australian,  that  their  mental  vigor  begins  to  decline 
when  they  have  reached  the  age  of  twenty.^ 

Sec.  88.  Jollity. — When  in  company,  savages  gener- 
ally are  noisy  chatterers,  fond  of  gossip,  ready  to  find 


SEC.    88.    JOLLITY.  177 

amusement  in  any  trifle,  and  easily  div^erted  from  one 
feeling  or  train  of  ideas  to  another  entirely  different. 
They  are  highly  excitable ;  they  talk  about  trifles  with 
a  vehemence  of  manner  that  would  not  be  called  out 
among  civilized  people  unless  the  subject  were  one  of 
great  importance.  They  shout  with  amusement  in  the 
course  of  their  ordinary  conversation,  and  when  seen 
from  a  little  distance,  they  seem  to  be  the  happiest  of 
mankind  ;  but  the  enlightened  spectator  who  approaches 
and  listens  to  their  talk,  wonders  at  its  insipidity. 

Of  the  Polynesians,  Gerland  tells  us  that  "  the  general 
cheerfulness  and  jollity,  the  wish  to  please  and  to  amuse 
one  another,  were  general  characteristics  which  attracted 
the  most  attention  among  the  early  European  voyagers. 
While  in  company,  they  were  always  engaged  in  lively 
conversation.  They  expressed  their  feelings  with  so 
much  animation  ;  they  seemed  so  innocent  and  amiable ; 
they  were  so  cordial,  so  sincere,  so  anxious  to  anticipate 
the  wishes  and  thoughts  of  their  companions,  that  the 
strangers  were  dazzled,  and  unable  to  see  the  weak  side 
of  their  hosts.  Among  themselves,  in  times  of  peace, 
they  were  friendly ;  and  their  rare  disputes  were  easily 
arranged.  Their  jovial  animation  was  caused  not  by 
superior  purity  and  harmony  of  the  moral  sentiments, 
but  by  an  excitable  disposition  and  an  openness  to  new 
impressions.  They  were  also  susceptible  to  frequent  at- 
tacks of  melancholy;  and  their  active  imagination  sur- 
rounded them  with  terrors,  and  even  killed  them  when 
they  were  told  that  they  had  broken  a  taboo,  or  had 
been  cursed  by  a  noted  sorcerer.  Their  feelings  and 
jjurposes  changed  suddenly  from  one  extreme  to  the 
otlier.  Light-hearted  joy  was  succeeded  almost  instantly 
by  gloomy  despair,  extravagant  hopefulness  by  torturing 
12 


irS  A   HISTORY  OF  MANKIND. 

fear,  the  warmest  attachment  by  the  bitterest  aversion, 
and  the  meanest  oarsimony  by  tlie  most  senseless  ex- 

-    -     V     _^  -    ,_  _.:its  in  a  racket.     A  noisy  toy  is  sure 
:     ^  He  wants  rattles  and  fire-craclcers.     A 

North  A:.  .  .  Indian  amused  himself  for  an  hour 
bv  i  _  :     ::hes  and  watchingr  them  ignite  and  bum 

ouL  In  Poh-nesia,  men  and  women  play  w-ith  dolls  and 
toys  ::\-ilized  children  of  eight  or  ten  years.' 

Wr.  _^  :  e  Marquesans  of  T}-pee,  Mel\-ille  saj'S,  "I 
was  more  and  more  struck  with  the  light-hearted  joyous- 
ness  that  ever\-where  pre\-ailed.  The  minds  of  these 
simple  sa\-age5.  unoccupied  by  matters  of  graver  moment, 
were  capable  of  deri\-ing  the  utmost  delight  from  circum- 
stances which  would  have  passed  unnoticed  in  more 
intelligent  communities.  All  their  enio}Tnent  indeed 
seemed  to  be  made  up  of  the  little  trifling  incidents  of 
the  passing  hour.  Wliat  community-,  for  instance,  of 
refined  and  intellectual  mortals  would  derive  the  least 
satisfection  fi^om  shooting  popguns?  The  mere  supposi- 
tion of  such  a  thing  would  excite  their  indignation,  and 
yet  the  whole  population  of  T\-pee  [a  \'alley  in  the  island 
of  Nukahi\-a]  did  little  else  for  ten  days  [after  Mel\-ille 
showed  them  how  to  make  the  plaj'thing]  but  occupy 
themselves  with  that  childish  amusement,  feirly  scream  - 
ing  too,  wi:'     '  v  delight  it  afibrded  them."' 

Sec  89.  jr^-.iuntss. — ^Among  sa\-ages,  the  Pohiiesians 
are  the  most  attentive  to  the  forms  of  social  intercourse, 
and,  partly  for  that  reason,  charmed  the  early  European 
na\-igators  in  the  Pacific.  The  Tongans  and  Samoans  are 
specially  noted  for  "  grace  and  dignitj'  of  deportment ; "  * 
on  the  other  hand,  the  North  American  sa\-ages  are  dis- 
tinguished for  their  stoliditj'  of  manner,  and   apparent 


SEC.    90.    SALUTATIONS.  1/9 

lack  of  sentiment  in  their  social  relations.  They  meet 
and  part  without  demonstration  of  feeling,  and  this  even 
when  the  separation  is  Hkely  to  be  for  months,  or  when 
a  number  of  warriors  are  about  to  start  on  a  highly  dan- 
gerous expedition.* 

Sa\ages  generally,  and  especially  those  of  North 
America,  seem  to  derive  little  pleasure  from  the  matri- 
monial and  parental  relations.'  There  is  no  show  of 
tenderness  betsveen  husband  and  wife ;  and  relatively 
little  between  parent  and  child.*  Maternal  affection  of 
course  exists,  but  many  influences  tend  to  weaken  it 
towards  the  boy  after  he  has  reached  the  age  of  ten  ;  and 
usually  the  children  act  as  if  they  had  little  regard  for 
the  mother.  It  is  worthy  of  note  however  that  the  most 
sentimental  of  all  oaths  is  that  of  the  stupid  Damara, 
"  By  the  tears  of  my  mother.'" "  The  Mandingo  says 
"  Strike  me,  but  do  not  speak  iU  of  m}*  mother." 

The  Maoris  have  a  custom  called  "  tangi "  (g  hard) 
which  requires  intimate  friends,  when  meeting  after  a 
long  separation,  to  begin  with  lamentation  and  weeping, 
as  if  grie\-ing  over  the  relatives  lost  or  the  sufferings 
endured  since  they  previously  met.  Then,  by  mutual 
consent,  they  suddenly  turn  to  a  merrj-  mood  and  so 
continue  until  perhaps  some  misfortune  is  mentioned 
when  they  again  have  a  lachrj-mose  fiL  A  similar  cus- 
tom exists  in  Greenland  and  in  Florida,* 

Sec.  90.  Salutations. — In  many  tribes,  the  subject 
kisses  the  hand  of  the  chief,  when  admitted  to  his  pres- 
ence ;  in  others,  not  being  allowed  to  come  near  enough 
for  that,  he  must  kiss  his  own  hand.  The  latter  practice 
was  common  in  ancient  Rome,  and  sugrCTested  the  word 
*'  adorare."  to  adore.^  Where  equals  sought  to  kiss  the 
hands  of  each  other,  and  each  refused  to  let  the  other 


l8o  A   HISTORY   OF   MANKIND. 

have  hi.^  Vv^ay,  they  would  grasp  and  shake  hands  as  a 
compromise.  In  welcoming  a  visitor,  the  Bafiote  stretches 
out  his  arms  and  claps  his  hands  together  repeatedly ; ''' 
the  Javan  closes  his  hands  and  raises  them  to  his  fore- 
head;^ the  Veddah  bows  and  touches  his  forehead  with 
his  right  hand.* 

When  addressing  a  chief,  the  common  Congoese  kneels, 
turns  his  face  half  aside,  stretches  out  his  arms  as  if  in 
supplication  and,  at  the  end  of  every  sentence,  strikes  his 
hands  together.*  When  approaching  his  ruler,  the  Daho- 
man  crawls  on  hands  and  knees,  as  does  the  Siamese. 
The  Batokas,  Balondos,  Kargue's  and  Watusis  salute 
superiors  by  lying  down  on  their  backs  and  rolling  from 
side  to  side,  as  a  little  dog  does  before  a  big  one.  Thus 
the  idea  of  unconditional  submission  is  conveyed  to  the 
savage  as  it  is  to  the  brute  mind."  In  Tongataboo  and 
in  Fundah,  the  common  man  meeting  a  chief  lies  down 
and  puts  the  great  man's  foot  on  his  neck.'  In  Tonga, 
he  merely  kneels  or  stoops  and  with  his  hand  touches 
the  sole  of  the  chiefs  foot.  When  speaking  to  his  chief 
the  Hawaiian,  the  Khond,  the  Malagasy,  the  Chibcha,* 
and  the  Borghoo  lie  flat  on  the  ground.  The  Polyne- 
sians and  the  Malays  generally  crouch  down  when  address- 
ing their  superiors.®  When  equals  meet  in  Ashantee, 
they  squat  down  and  rub  their  hands  over  the  ground, 
as  if  in  preparation  for  prostrating  themselves.^"  ■ 

In  Congo,  the  warrior  who  meets  his  chief,  kneels 
and  kisses  the  earth,  while  his  superior  .sprinkles  dust 
over  the  head  and  arms  of  his  kneeling  subject.  In 
Balondo  and  on  the  lower  Niger,  the  common  man  kneels 
and  rubs  dust  on  his  arms  and  chest,  while  the  chief 
makes  motions  as  if  he  were  rubbing  dust  on  his  own 
arms  and  chest. 


SEC.    90.    SALUTATIONS.  I8I 

He  who  throws  dust  over  himself,  humiliates  himself 
and  relatively  exalts  the  person  before  whom  he  does  it ; 
and  in  many  countries  honor  is  paid  in  that  way  or  in 
motions  suggestive  of  it.  The  Turkish  army  officers,  at 
a  military  review,  go  through  the  motions  of  throwing 
dust  on  their  heads  before  the  commanding  general ;  "  as 
Joshua  and  the  elders  of  Israel  "  put  dust  on  their  heads  " 
before  the  ark.^^  In  Wasua,  the  inferior  meeting  a  supe- 
rior, rubs  a  ball  of  clay  first  on  one  arm  and  then  on  the 
other. 

The  inferior,  meeting  his  superior  in  Fiji,  steps  out  of 
the  way  and  squats  down  with  his  back  to  the  path,  thus 
indicating  submissiveness.  ^^  On  the  Isthmus  of  Panama, 
the  speaker  turns  his  back  to  the  person  spoken  to.'*  In 
Polynesia,  the  inferior  must  never  get  on  a  higher  level 
than  his  chief,  nor  let  his  shadow  fall  on  him.  As  any 
covering  might  conceal  a  weapon,  the  inferior  must 
appear  naked  before  his  superior  in  Polynesia  and  Africa.'* 

As  a  mode  of  salutation  and  an  expression  of  affection, 
the  kiss  is  unknown  to  the  aboriginal  Americans,'*  Afri- 
cans," Polynesians,  Melancsians,  Malays  and  Eskimos,'^  as 
it  is  to  the  Chinese  and  Japanese.''  Instead  of  kissing 
his  mistress,  the  Polynesian  or  Malay  puts  his  nose  at 
the  side  of  hers  and  rubs  it  or  smells  her  cheek.  This 
process  has  been  called  the  Malay  kiss.  In  the  Philippine 
Islands,  New  Caledonia  and  parts  of  Southeastern  Asia, 
lovers  exchange  scarfs  or  handkerchiefs  so  that  each  has 
the  ])crfume  of  the  beloved.*"  On  Brumer's  Island  and 
in  jjarts  of  New  Guinea,  friends  at  meeting  salute  by 
jjiiKhingeach  other's  noses,  and  scratching  each  other  on 
the  body.'' 

In  the  imagination  of  many  tribes,  one  of  the  greatest 
dangers  of  human  life  is  that  some  of  a  man's  rubbish, 


1 82  A    HISTORY    OF    MANKIND. 

such  as  spittle,  a  clipping  of  hair  or  nails,  a  remnant  of 
his  food,  or  a  piece  of  his  clothing,  may  fall  into  the 
hands  of  a  sorcerer,  who,  with  its  aid,  can  bewitch  him 
into  disease  or  death.  To  give  one's  rubbish  to  another 
is  a  mark  of  the  greatest  confidence  and  submission  ;  and 
this  idea  is  perhaps  the  basis  of  the  custom  of  saluting 
a  person  by  spitting  on  his  hand  or  in  his  face,  as  in  the 
upper  part  of  the  Nile  valley"'^  and  among  the  Payaguas,'^^ 
or  by  spitting  in  one's  own  hand  and  rubbing  it  over  the 
friend's  face,  as  among  the  Eskimos.^*  In  some  Moslem 
tribes  of  Northern  Africa,  the  chief  honors  his  courtiers 
by  squirting  his  saliva  over  them,^*  and  the  Berber,  when 
he  wishes  to  show  special  honor  or  affection  to  a  child, 
spits  in  its  face.^*  In  Ashiro,  the  guest,  when  taking 
leave,  spits  some  chewed  sugar  cane  into  the  hand  of  his 
host."  In  Alabama  and  in  the  Andaman  Islands,  friends, 
when  meeting,  salute  by  blowing  into  each  other's  faces, 
perhaps  a  remnant  of  the  spitting  process. 

In  many  tribes  the  mode  of  address  varies  greatly  ac- 
cording to  the  relative  ranks  of  the  persons  meeting.l 
The  Samoans  use  the  reverential  plural  to  superiors,  and 
give  the  title  "  chief"  to  equals.  The  aboriginal  Javan 
has  a  common,  a  classic  and  a  court  dialect  or  set  of 
phrases,  the  first  being  used  to  inferiors  and  .the  last  to 
superiors.  The  Hottentots  address  one  anotherlas 
"  brother." 

Sec.  91.  Education. — In  the  North  American  tribes, 
infants  are  taught  to  weep  in  silence,  and  the  white  vis- 
itor is  surprised  and  amused  by  seeing  a  child  shedding 
tears  freely  and  expressing  intense  misery  with  its  facial 
muscles,  while  not  making  the  least  sound.  The  process 
of  instruction  in  silent  weeping  is  simple.  The  child's 
"  mouth  is  covered  with  the  palm  of  the  hand  while  its 


SEC.    91.    EDUCATION.  1 83 

nose  is  grasped  between  the  thumb  and  forefinger,  until 
the  Httle  one  is  nearly  suffocated.  It  is  then  let  go,  to  be 
seized  and  smothered  again  at  its  first  attempt  to  cry. 
The  bab)-  very  soon  learns  that  silence  is  its  best  policy."  ^ 

Savage  children  are  not  trained  at  home  in  table  man- 
ners, refinement  of  speech,  kindness,  honesty  and  mag- 
nanimity; and  they  get  no  systematic  moral  training 
elsewhere.  In  the  conduct  and  language  of  the  adults 
whom  they  observe,  violence,  treachery  and  falsehood, 
are  honored;  while  mildness  and  regard  for  the  feel- 
ings of  others  are  treated  with  contempt.  Their  plays 
include  robbery,  battle  and  cruelty.  In  tribes  which 
steal  wives,  the  little  boys  club  and  drag  away  the  little 
girls.  Live  animals  are  given  by  the  parents  to  the  chil- 
dren to  be  tortured.  There  is  no  religion  that  teaches 
virtue ;  there  is  no  conception  of  virtue  save  getting  all 
you  can  for  yourself  and  your  family,  clan  or  tribe,  and 
doing  all  possible  injury  to  others. 

When  six  or  eight  years  old,  the  boy  is  emancipated 
from  the  control  of  the  mother,  who  after  that  time  must 
not  strike  or  threaten  him,  nor  in  any  way  check  his 
insolence  or  violence,  which  are  applauded  by  the  father 
and  uncles,  as  evidences  of  .spirit  and  courage. 

In  regard  to  the  habits  of  the  animals  on  which  the 
savages  depend  for  food,  the  boys  receive  thorough 
instruction,  not  by  direct  teaching,  but  by  overhearing 
the  common  conversation  among  the  men.  The  children 
have  games  in  which  they  imitate  the  cries  and  calls  of 
all  the  quadrupeds  and  birds  known  to  them,  until  they 
acquire  such  skill  that  they  can  deceive  the  animals. 

In  .savagism  as  in  civilization,  little  girls  are  brought 
up  to  be  the  companions  and  assistants  of  their  mothers 
and,  even  where    more  prized  than    boys  on  account  of 


184  A    HISTORY    OF    MANKIND. 

their  pecuniary  value,  are  always  treated  as  inferior 
beings,  destined  to  render  servile  duty  to  the  other  sex. 
They  inherit  from  nature  modest  impulses,  confirmed  by 
the  example  of  their  mothers  and  other  women,  but  they 
are  accustomed  from  their  earliest  years  to  hearing  the 
coarsest  speech  from  the  men,  and  to  seeing  almost 
daily  many  actions  that  would  be  considered  most  gross 
offenses,  if  done  publicly,  in  any  civilized  community. 

Sec.  92.  Morality. — In  the  lower  culturesteps  high 
morality  is  neither  inculcated  by  the  priests  nor  attrib- 
uted to  the  spirits  or  gods.  To  the  savage,  divine  good- 
ness means  nothing  save  favoritism  to  a  person.  His 
god  will  aid  him  to  rob  and  assassinate  an  unoffending 
stranger,  and  will  protect  him  from  punishment  for  the 
most  unjustifiable  and  outrageous  crime.  A  Bushman 
said  it  was  good  for  him  to  steal  another  man's  wife,  and 
bad  for  another  man  to  steal  his  wife.^  A  tribe  of  the 
Chibchas^  and  some  savages  of  Hindostan^  consider  no 
offering  more  acceptable  to  their  divinity  than  a  share 
of  the  spoil  obtained  in  a  murderous  raid.  A  young 
Abyssinian  wh:)  had  not  risen  above  savage  ideas  com- 
plained that  "  God  must  be  angry  with  me  for  I  have  only 
twice  attempted  to  rob  and  on  both  occasions  have  I 
been  punished."*  The  Tahitian  religion,  which  in  general 
character  is  the  most  advanced  of  all  savage  religions, 
has  no  moral  teaching.*  No  savage  tribe  has  a  definite 
belief  in  future  reward  for  virtue  or  puiiishrruent  for  vice. 

The  ethical  standard  cannot  be  high  among  men  who 
limit  their  idea  of  mutual  fidelity  to  their  own  tribe,  clan 
or  village ;  who  treat  all  persons  outside  of  that  limit  as 
proper  subjects  for  robbery  and  murder ;  who  regard  the 
possession  of  a  scalp  of  any  person  outside  of  their  tribe 
as  a  title  to  the  highest  honor;    who   despise  the  man 


SEC.    92.    MORALITY.  1 85 

who  has  never  killed  a  human  being ;  who  delight 
in  torturing  their  captives ;  whose  gods  are  detestable 
demons ;  and  who  expect  to  continue  through  a  long 
future,  the  brutal  ferocity  they  have  exercised  in  this  life. 
It  is  a  great  mistake  to  imagine  that  as  "  the  primitive 
man  had  few  duties,  he  was  relatively  pure."*  The  more 
primitive  the  man  the  more  impure ;  the  less  he  knew  of 
his  duties  to  his  fellows,  the  less  he  cared  for  them. 
Purity  consists  not  in  brutish  ignorance  of  obligation  to 
our  fellow  men,  but  in  knowledge  of  it  and  careful  regard 
for  it. 

While  most  of  the  low  .savages  are  bloodthirsty,  vio- 
lent, cruel,  regardless  of  the  rights  of  aliens,  and  tyran- 
nical to  their  women,  there  are  exceptions.  The  Eski- 
mos generally  know  nothing  of  war,  and  usually  live 
peacefully  and  happily  among  themselves.  Of  the  Hill 
Dyaks,  Low  says,  "Crime  is  so  rare  among  them  that  its 
punishments  are  known  only  from  tradition  ;  and  they 
live  at  present  [1848]  in  a  .state  of  happiness  and  con- 
tentment which  perhaps  is  at  this  time  enjoyed  in  so  high 
a  degree  by  no  other  people  upon  earth.'" 

Schomberg,  spealcing  of  the  aborigines  of  British  Guiana, 
says  that  "  though  civilized  men  possess  infinitely  higher 
blessings,  they  lack  the  pure  morality  of  these  savages 
who  have  never  come  into  contact  with  Europeans,  and 
have  not  learned  the  vices  of  civilization.  At  home 
among  these  people,  I  have  seen  peace,  quiet,  and  hap- 
piness, the  simple  love  of  husband  for  wife,  of  parents 
for  children,  of  children  for  j^arents,  sincere  friendship, 
boundless  gratitude,  expressed  not  in  empty  words,  but 
cherished  in  true  hearts.  They  need  no  lesson  from  civi- 
lization in  virtue;  the)'  live  in  it  but  do  not  speak  of  it. 
Their  word  is  their  deed  ;  their  promise  is  their  conduct."^ 


1 86  A    HISTORY   OF   MANKIND. 

Sec.  93.  Anmsements. — Music  and  dancing  are  found 
everywhere  and  in  many  tribes  are  the  chief  amusements. 
Savages  are  averse  to  much  exertion  either  physical  or 
mental.  Such  games  as  ball,  wrestling,  boxing,  bowling, 
and  racing  afoot  are  not  general  among  them.^  They 
have  no  cards,  checkers,  chess  or  backgammon.  We 
do  not  derive  from  savages  any  amusement  requiring 
much  intellectual  exertion,  nor,  so  far  as  known,  have 
inherited  from  them  any  exercise  requiring  much  skill, 
such  as  cricket,  baseball  or  boxing.  The  Araucans'  and 
Redmen  east  of  the  Mississippi*  have  games  of  ball,  and 
the  Redmen  west  of  the  Mississippi  have  a  game  played 
with  a  hoop  and  spears.  The  Maoris  have  kites,  skip 
ropes,  swings,  whip  tops  and  cats'  cradle.  Among  the 
tropical  Polynesians  we  find  wrestling  matches,  cock- 
fights, and  surf  bathing.  Of  the  last,  Moerenhout  says, 
"  Among  the  exercises  of  strength  and  skill,  practiced 
by  mankind  in  various  countries,  I  know  none  more 
exciting  or  astonishing  at  first  view  than  this.  Usually 
they  have  a  board  three  or  four  feet  long  with  which 
they  swim  out  beyond  the  line  of  the  breaking  surf,  and 
then  watching  the  waves,  and  diving  under  the  smaller 
ones,  they  wait  for  one  of  the  largest.  Upon  the  sum- 
mit of  this  one,  announced  to  them  by  the  shout  of  their 
friends  on  the  beach,  they  come  towards  the  land  and  it 
looks  to  the  spectator  as  if  they  must  be  crushed,  but 
before  the  wave  breaks,  they  turn  and  go  out  to  sea 
again,  while  the  surf  tumbles  over  and  dashes  with  a 
great  roar  on  the  sand."* 

The  favorite  swing  of  the  Dyaks  is  a  single  cord  with 
a  loop  at  the  lower  end,  supported  by  three  long  bamboo 
poles  fastened  together  at  the  top.  A  strong  man  puts 
one  foot  in  the  loop ;  another  man  clings  to  him,  and 


SEC.    94.    POETRY,    ETC.  1 8/ 

others  catch  hold  wherever  they  can,  until  there  are  a 
dozen  or  more  ;  many  of  them  uncomfortable  with  their 
burdens,  and  struggling  to  get  rid  of  them,  amidst  gen- 
eral laughter  and  shouting  of  participants  and  bystanders.^ 
The  swing  of  the  Hervey  Islanders,  similar  in  pattern,  is 
attached  to  a  tall  leaning  cocoa  tree,  and  has  a  similar 
cluster  of  persons  for  its  load." 

The  dance,  often  of  a  religious  character,  has  a  prom- 
inent place  among  the  Indians  of  North  America.  The 
steps  are  stamps  and  rude  hops  ;  the  common  figure, 
movement  in  a  circle.  Music  is  furnished  by  a  drum, 
rattle  or  monotonous  chant.  In  some  tribes  men  and 
women  participate,  in  others  men  only.  Every  impor- 
tant expedition  whether  for  war  or  the  chase  is  preceded, 
and  every  successful  one  is  celebrated,  by  a  dance. 
Stupid  as  the  Indian  dance  seems  to  the  civilized 
observer,  yet  if  one  Redman  starts  with  his  stamping 
and  bark-like  chant,  the  rhythmical  movement  seems  to 
impress  the  villagers  greatly  and  soon  most  of  them  are 
at  his  heels  imitating  his  example.^  Many  of  the  sav- 
age dances  are  obscene  in  their  character. 

Savages  are  fond  of  gambling  and  risk  much  of  their 
little  property  in  betting  on  games  of  chance,**  on  cock- 
fights,® and  where  they  have  them,  on  games  of  ball  and 
hoop.  Among  the  Australians  the  favorite  game  for 
little  boys  is  stealing  wives ;  among  the  Rcdmen  it  is 
scalping  enemies ;  in  the  Eskimo  region,  it  is  building 
snow  huts ;  in  Guiana,  it  is  leading  a  large  spider  about 
by  a  string. 

Sec.  94.  Poetry,  etc. — Savage  tribes  generally  have  few 
interesting  legends,  {o.V'i  notable  traditions  of  tribal  achieve- 
ments, and  no  poems  or  samples  of  oratory  transmitted 
from  generation  to  generation.     Indeed  there  are  many 


1 88  A    HISTORY    OF    MANKIND. 

tribes  without  any  of  these  intellectual  productions,  so 
far  as  is  known.  In  poetry,  perhaps  New  Zealand  sur- 
passes any  other  savage  region.  Waitz  says,  "  Although 
rude  and  coarse  in  form,  the  mythical  songs  of  the 
Maoris,  given  by  Grey  are,  in  substance,  not  inferior 
to  those  of  ancient  Greece  or  mediaeval  Germany.  .  .  . 
In  the  songs  of  New  Zealand,  blood  revenge  in  its  fiercest 
form  and  even  cannibalism  appear,  but  on  the  other 
hand,  we  observe  the  warmest  family  affection.  To  find 
a  beloved  sister,  mother  or  wife,  the  hero  travels  over  the 
known  world,  goes  down  into  hell  and  climbs  up  to 
heaven.  Fancy,  wit  and  descriptive  talent  are  all  found 
here."' 

Poetry  occupies  a  prominent  place  in  the  life  of  the 
Tahitians  and  Hawaiians.  Among  them  a  song  accom- 
panies every  important  concerted  movement,  whether 
playing,  dancing,  rowing,  marching,  building  a  house, 
launching  a  boat,  planting  a  field,  carrying  a  load,  cutting 
down  a  tree,  attacking  an  enemy,  or  worshiping  a  god. 
They  welcome  the  birth  of  a  child  and  they  accompany 
the  burial  of  a  man  with  a  song.  Their  nursery  rhymes 
are  numerous,  and  their  favorite  poets  are  treated  with 
much  honor. 

The  Greenlanders  "  decide  their  quarrels  by  a  match 
of  singing  and  dancing  which  they  call  the  singing  com- 
bat. If  a  Greenlander  thinks  himself  aggrieved  by  another, 
he  discovers  no  symptom  of  revengeful  design,  anger  or 
vexation  ;  but  he  composes  a  satirical  poem  which  he  re- 
cites with  singing  and  dancing  in  the  presence  of  his 
family,  till  they  know  it  by  rote.  He  then  in  the  face  of 
the  whole  country,  challenges  his  antagonist  to  a  satiri- 
cal duel.  .  .  .  He  who  has  the  last  word  wins  the 
trial,     ...     It  serves  a  higher  purpose  than  a  mere 


SEC.    95.    MUSIC.  189 

diversion.  Nothing  so  effectualh^  restrains  a  Greenlander 
from  vice  as  the  dread  of  a  public  disgrace."^ 

Savage  eloquence  reached  its  highest  development 
among  the  Iroquois,  the  Algonkins,  the  Cherokees,  the 
Tongans,  the  Kaffirs,  the  Maoris  and  the  Samoans,  all 
of  whom  were  in  the  habit  of  discussing  and  deciding 
their  most  important  public  que.stions  in  assemblies  of 
the  warriors  or  councils  of  the  nobles  ;  but  of  their  ora- 
tions, delivered  before  they  had  been  long  in  contact  with 
civilized  men,  no  samples  have  been  preserved.* 

Proverbs  containing  wit  and  close  observation  of  hu- 
man life  are  found  in  many  savage  tribes.  Among  those 
of  the  Tahitians  are  the  following  :* — 

Women  and  war  are  man's  perils. 

At  planting,  friends  are  few;  at  harvest,  many. 

The  reward  of  bravery  in  battle  is  uncertain  ;  that 

of  toil  in  tillage  is  sure. 
The  net  conceals  its  spider  and  the  heart  its  thought. 
The  gift,  with  much  love,  is  never  small. 

Notches  in  sticks  and  knots  in  strings  are  used  to  aid 
the  savage  memory.  Knotted  cords  for  such  purposes 
are  familiar  among  the  Araucans,  Ostyaks,  Sumatrans, 
Javans,  Polynesians  and  the  aborigines  of  New  Britain. 
The  payment  of  taxes  was  recorded  in  Hawaii  on  .strings,^ 
and  in  New  Britain  count  was  kept  on  them  of  days 
passed,  of  cocoa-nuts  delivered  and  of  other  statistics. 
The  Zuni  Indians  have  a  tradition  that  their  ancesters 
had  knotted-cord  records.  The  wampum  of  the  tribes 
east  of  the  Mississippi,  consisting  of  bead  belts,  was  used 
to  remind  their  possessors  of  treaties  and  traditions. 
Rude  pictures  are  drawn  by  many  tribes  to  convey  in- 
formation, and  some  of  them  can  be  easily  understood. 

Sec.  95.  Music. — Iwery  .savage  tribe  has  its  music,  but 


196  A   HISTORY  OF   MANKIND. 

none  has  many  striking  airs,  nor  one  air  that  commands 
the  adniiration  of  enhghtened  nations.  All  their  tunes 
are  in  the  minor  key,  which  does  not  give  scope  to  varied 
and  powerful  effects.  In  many  of  their  airs,  the  rhythm 
is  a  large  part  and  though  not  strongly  accentuated,  it 
has  a  decided  influence  on  the  savage  temperaments  at 
times.  The  range  of  tones  is  small ;  in  Samoa  and  Tahiti 
only  three  notes,  from  e  to  g}  Referring  to  the  Poly- 
nesians, Foster  says,  "  the  whole  music  both  vocal  and 
instrumental,  consists  of  three  or  four  notes,  which  are 
between  half  and  quarter  notes,  being  neither  whole  nor 
semitones.  The  effect  of  these  notes,  without  variety  or 
order,  is  only  a  kind  of  drowsy  hum."^ 

Writing  of  the  music  of  the  Bushmen,  Dr.  Lichten- 
stein  says,  "  We  were  by  degrees  so  accustomed  to  the 
monotonous  sound  that  our  sleep  was  never  disturbed 
by  it ;  nay,  it  rather  lulled  us  to  sleep.  Heard  at  a  dis- 
tance, there  was  nothing  unpleasant,  but  sorfiething  plaint- 
ive and  soothing.  Although  no  more  than  six  tones 
can  be  produced  from  it,  which  do  not,  besides,  belong 
to  our  gamut,  but  form  intervals  quite  foreign  to  it,  yet 
the  kind  of  vocal  sound  of  these  tones,  the  uncommon 
nature  of  the  rhythm,  and  even  the  oddness,  I  may  say 
wildness,  of  the  harmony,  give  to  this  music  a  charm  pe- 
culiar to  itself"^ 

Harriet  Martineau  remarks  that  "  the  music  of  nature 
is  all  in  the  minor  key — the  melodies  of  the  winds,  the 
sea,  the  waterfall,  the  song  of  birds,  and  the  echoes  of 
the  bleating  flocks  among  the  hills;  and  the  human  song 
[in  low  culture],  seems  to  follow  their  lead."*  Dr. 
Crotch,  speaking  of  the  musical  instruments  of  the 
aboriginal  Javans,  says  they  have  the  "  same  kind  of  scale 
as  that  produced  by  the  black  keys  of  the  pianoforte,  in 


SEC.   95.    MUSIC.  191 

which  scale  so  many  of  the  Scotch  and  Irish,  all  the 
Chinese  and  some  of  the  East  Indian  and  North  Ameri- 
can airs  of  the  greatest  antiquity  were  produced."*  He 
adds  that  the  irregularity  of  the  rhythm  and  the  reitera- 
tion of  the  same  note  are  characteristic  of  oriental  music, 
and  the  same  remark  applies  to  savage  music.  Burton 
says  that  "  the  noisiness  of  the  major  cleff "  confuses  the 
barbarian;  and  it  is  a  well  known  fact  that  Chinamen 
and  savages  after  having  been  accustomed  for  generations 
to  hear,  at  least  occasionally,  the  music  of  the  Euraryans, 
continue  to  prefer  their  own  airs  in  the  minor  key.  They 
often  listen  with  indifference  to  our  orchestras  and  some- 
times with  positive  dislike,  and  even  put  their  fingers  in 
their  ears  to  keep  out  the  unpleasant  sounds.  On  the 
other  hand,  we  regard  the  Chinese  orchestral  and  choral 
music  as  a  most  ludicrous  and  ear-offending  combination 
of  discordant  squeak,  rattle,  squall  and  bang. 

Falsetto  is  prominent  in  the  singing  of  most  savages, 
as  it  is  in  China,  Japan,  Russia,  Arabia,  and  also  among 
"  uneducated  singers  in  the  rural  districts  of  civilized 
countries."®  It  implies  defective  perception  of  harmony, 
the  higher  forms  of  which,  in  the  combination  of  three 
tones  to  make  a  full  chord,  are  unknown  in  the  lower 
grades  of  culture.  Most  tribes  perform  but  one  part  at 
a  time,  but  some,  including  Hawaiians,  Tahitians  and 
Tongans,^  could  sing  two  parts  together. 

The  most  widely  known  musical  instrument  is  the 
drum.  As  a  hollow  cylinder  of  wood  or  bamboo,  with 
or  without  a  covering  of  rawhide,  it  is  familiar  to  the 
Australians,  Polynesians,  Africans,  Asiatics,  Eskimos, 
and  Americans  of  both  continents.  Its  monotonous 
sound  is  a  suitable  accompaniment  for  the  savage  chant ; 
and  its  loud  notes  serve  in  time  of  war  to  warn  and  to 


192  A   HISTORY  OF   MANKIND. 

excite  warriors  far  and  near.  The  Balondo  drum  has  a 
hole  in  the  side  over  which  a  piece  of  spiderweb  is 
stretched  as  a  resounder.* 

Perhaps  the  name  of  gong  would  be  more  appropriate  for 
a  canoe-shaped  hollow  log  made  by  the  Maoris.  When 
suspended  and  beaten  hard,  its  noise  can  be  heard  in 
still  weather  at  a  distance  of  twenty  miles.  Rattles  of 
bladder  or  gourd  containing  pebbles  or  nuts  supply 
much  of  the  racket  which  many  tribes  enjoy.  Thema- 
remba,  a  collection  of  resonant  sticks  of  various  sizes, 
giving  out  different  notes  under  the  hammer,  was  used  in 
many  African  tribes  before  it  was  copied,  improved  and 
made  familiar  in  Europe  as  the  xylophone. 

The  harp  of  the  Kaffirs  consists  of  a  bow  with  a  sin- 
gle string,  passing  through  a  ring,  in  which  the  performer 
inserts  his  forefinger  of  the  hand  used  for  holding  the 
bow ;  and  by  the  movement  of  this  finger  he  can  increase 
or  relax  the  tension,  and  thus  regulate  the  note  to  be  pro- 
duced by  a  blow  on  the  chord  from  a  stick  in  the  other 
hand.  The  Bushman's  harp  has  a  single  string  stretched 
on  a  bow.  To  one  end  of  the  string  is  attached  a  flat- 
tened piece  of  the  barrel  of  a  large  quill  four  inches 
.'ong.  He  holds  the  bow  in  his  left  hand,  puts  his  left 
Forefinger  in  his  left  nostril,  and  his  righfe  forefinger  in  his 
right  ear,  and  by  sucking  or  blowing  on  the  quill,  he 
causes  it  to  vibrate  and  make  sounds  musical  to  him.' 

Various  instruments  resembling  the  guitar  in  principle 
are  used  in  most  of  the  countries  producing  the  bamboo, 
the  outer  rind  of  which  is  cut  into  strips  from  one  point 
to  another,  raised  by  wedges  or  bridges,  and  played  with 
the  fingers  like  a  harp  or  rubbed  with  a  cord  stretched 
over  a  bow.  The  Gonds  have  a  rude  guitar  made  with 
a  gourd  in  which  is  stuck  a  neck  of  bamboo.^" 


SEC.    96.    MEDICINE,    ETC.  1 93 

Of  wind  instruments,  the  most  common  is  the  trumpet 
made  of  conch  shell,  which  is  much  used  on  the  northern 
shore  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  in  Polynesia.  Tl;ie  Tahi- 
tians  increase  the  sound  by  boring  a  hole  in  the  side  and 
inserting  a  bamboo  tube,  three  feet  long,  through  which 
they  blow.  The  nose  flageolet  is  found  in  Polynesia  as 
in  ancient  Greece,  the  left  nostril  being  used  for  blowing 
while  the  right  one  is  closed  with  the  right  thumb." 
In  Nine  the  player  applies  a  flageolet  to  each  nostril, 
blowing  both  at  the  same  time.^^  The  Pandean  pipes  are 
known  to  many  Melanesian  and  other  savage  tribes.^" 

Sec.  96.  Medicine,  etc. — Besides  sacerdotal  hocus-pocus 
(based  on  the  theory  of  demoniacal  possession),  which 
is  general  among  savages,  as  a  cure  of  disease,  many 
tribes  have  therapeutical  remedies.^  In  North  America 
and  Tahiti,  the  steam-bath  is  a  general  remedy,  exit  from 
the  bath  being  followed  immediately  by  a  plunge  into  a 
.stream  or  pond.  This  treatment  gives  relief  iw  light 
rheumatisms  and  some  other  mild  complaints,  but  in 
smallpox  and  measles  it  is  almost  invariably  followed  by 
a  fatal  result.  Vegetable  purges  and  emetics  are  fre- 
quently administered  as  remedies  for  disease,  or  as 
means  of  expelling  demons  that  cause  disease,  by  the 
Polynesians  and  Redmen ;  and  in  some  American  tribes, 
emetics  are  taken  to  prepare  warriors  for  ecclesiastical 
festivals^  or  for  exceptional  exertion.  The  Lapwai  tribe 
in  Idaho  has  periodical  treatments  with  emetics  to  over- 
come the  spirit  of  fatigue.  Wilkos  tells  us  that  a  man 
who  had  just  gone  through  such  a  treatment  ran  one 
hundred  miles  in  sixteen  hours.* 

Smallpox  was  introduced  into  America  and  measles 
into  Polynesia  by  Europeans.  Various  forms  of  catarrh 
were  unknown  or    rare   in  many  tropical  islands  of  the 

13 


194  A   HISTORY  OF   MANKIND. 

Pacific  before  the  missionaries  induced  their  converts  to 
wear  clothing.  Ague  made  its  appearance  among  the 
Chinooks  after  the  white  men  began  to  settle  in  Oregon.* 
Syphilis  was  known  in  New  Zealand  and  Australia  and 
smallpox  in  Australia  before  the  time  of  Cook,  but  per- 
haps not  before  the  visits  of  earlier  European  navigators.* 
Hernia  humoralis  is  common  among  the  Makonde.® 
The  Javanese  have  a  peculiar  hysterical  affection  called 
lata.'  In  consequence  of  the  custom  of  eating  raw  meat, 
most  of  the  Abyssinians,  in  portions  of  the  population 
ninety-five  out  of  a  hundred,  have  taenia.^ 

Some  savage  tribes  have  considerable  knowledge  of 
surgery  and  others  very  little.  The  East  Africans  near 
the  equator  can  neither  reduce  dislocations  nor  set 
broken  bones  ;  ®  the  Mandingoes  can  do  both.^"  Among 
the  North  American  Indians  and  some  Polynesians, 
broken  bones  are  set  with  splints,  cuts  are  sewed  together 
and  the  external  healing  of  suppurating  wounds  is  care- 
fully prevented."  They  also  use  bleeding,  cupping,  and 
cautery  with  heat.  The  Californians  apply  nettles,  venom- 
ous ants,  and  burning  heat  to  parts  afflicted  with 
rheumatism.  The  favorite  remedies  of  the  Damaras  for 
that  disease  are  cupping  and  tattooing.  Their  cup  is  a 
section  of  a  cow's  horn  from  which  a  man  sucks  out  the 
air.  The  panacea  of  the  Ashira  negroes  for  leprosy, 
lumbago,  and  many  other  diseases,  consists  in  scarifying 
the  affected  part,  and  rubbing  the  cuts  with  capsicum 
and  lime  juice.^^  The  Andamanese  use  scarification  for 
rheumatism.  The  Koosa  negroes  inoculate  their  chil- 
dren with  smallpox,  giving  them  the  virus  to  eat  in  a 
grape,^^  having  presumably  learned  this  remedy  from  the 
Arabs.  The  success  of  the  Solomon  Islanders  in  treat- 
ing  gunshot  wounds  with  hot  stones  astonished  Doctor 


SEC.    97.    VOCABULARY.  1 95 

Guppy  and  led  him  to  believe  that  the  method  should  be 
tried  in  civdiized  hospitals.^* 

The  Polynesians  amputate  limbs,  and  sear  severed 
arteries  with  red-hot  stone.  They  trepan  skulls,  and 
sometimes  after  taking  out  some  of  the  man's  brain,  put 
some  pig's  brain  in  to  fill  up  the  hole.  No  case  of  suc- 
cess in  this  operation  is  on  record.^"  The  prehistoric 
Europeans  trepanned  many  infants,  perhaps  for  convul- 
sions/® and  the  subsequent  growt  h  of  the  bone  proves 
that  the  subject  survived  for  many  years.  The  trepan 
hole  usually  about  an  inch  and  a  half  square  was  made  at 
some  place  convenient  for  cleaning  the  inside  of  the 
skull.^' 

The  kneading  of  the  muscles  is  practiced  in  Polynesia,'* 
the  basin  of  the  Niger  and  the  southern  part  of  the  Nile 
basin.'*  It  is  found  in  the  most  common  use  and  in  the 
highest  development  in  the  Hawaiian  group,  where  it  is 
called  lomilomi.  For  bruises,  sprains,  sleeplessness,  sur- 
feits, and  stiffness  after  severe  exertion,  it  is  the  favorite 
remedy  and  is  applied  with  much  success.  It  is  used 
for  hygienic  as  well  as  for  medical  purposes.  Its  admin- 
istration at  frequent  intervals  to  most  of  the  high  chiefs 
and  their  sons,  is  presumably  the  main  cause  of  their 
large  size  and  great  strength.  In  Tonga,  the  person  suf- 
fering with  insomnia  is  beaten  with  mild  strokes  until  he 
falls  asleep,  and  if  he  awakes  before  he  has  obtained  the 
needed  rest  the  beating  is  resumed."" 

Sec.  97.  Vocabulary. — Articulate  speech,  the  necessary 
product  of  human  reason,  is  one  of  the  greatest  achieve- 
ments as  well  as  one  of  tiie  leading  characteristics  of 
mankind.  Whether  "  language  and  thought  are  insepar- 
able,'" or  whether  "  general  ideas  and  words  are  insc[)ar- 
able,"^  as  Max  MuUcr  says,  or  not,  it  is  certain  that,  with- 


Ig6  A   HISTORY   OF   MANKIND. 

out  the  aid  of  speech,  man  would  ever  have  remanied 
near  the  level  of  the  brute.  Soon  after  he  appeared  on 
the  earth  he  found  gratification  in  listening  to  the  sound 
of  his  own  voice,  and  in  trying  its  tones.  Before  taming 
fire  or  making  edge  tools,  we  may  presume  that  he  imi- 
tated the  cries  of  quadrupeds  and  birds,  and  uttered 
exclamations  of  pleasure,  pain,  surprise,  alarm,  warning, 
threat,  defiance,  friendship  and  affection.  These  ejacu- 
latory,  and  imitative  calls'  by  adoption  into  common  use, 
with  understood  meanings,  became  words.  They  were 
monosyllables  without  parts  of  speech  and  without  inflec- 
tion. The  position  in  the  sentence  indicated  whether  the 
word  was  a  subject,  predicate  or  object ;  whether  a  noun, 
adjective  or  a  verb.^  In  many  cases  the  meaning  was 
not  clear  until  the  words  had  been  supplemented  by  a 
gesture.  There  were  no  terms  for  general  ideas  or 
immaterial  conceptions.  The  words  were  few.  Some 
agricultural  laborers  of  modern  Europe  do  not  use  more 
than  three  hundred,'*  and  the  Chinese  have  not  more  than 
five  hundred  orifrinal  root  words.*^  The  savage  vocabu- 
laries  though  brief  may  be  very  full  in  some  classes 
of  terms.  Thus  Polynesians  have  many  words  to  signify 
the  cocoa-nut  in  different  stages,  as  the  Arabs  have  many 
for  lion,'  and  the  Icelanders  many  for  various  kinds  of 
island. 

Many  modern  tribes  have  no  general  terms  for  the 
most  common  classes  of  objects.  Thus  the  idea  of  plant, 
tree,  animal  and  quadruped,  cannot  be  expressed  in  the 
tongue  of  the  Coroados  of  Brazil.  They  have  names 
for  various  species  of  tree  but  none  for  tree  in  general. 
Neither  can  they  convey  the  conception  of  distance, 
height,  color,  tone,  sex,  multitude,  degree,  space,  time, 
feeling,  consciousness,  affection,  gratitude  or  love  by  any 


SEC.    97.    VOCABULARY.  1 9/ 

one  word.  Among  the  tribes,  which  have  no  abstract 
terms,  are  the  Tahitians,^  Redmen,'"  AustraHans''  and 
Tasmanians/'  The  Hos  have  no  words  expressive  of 
tenderness  ;  the  Tinnehs  have  no  adjective  meaning  dear ; 
some  Polynesians  and  some  Redmen  have  no  verb  signi- 
fying to  thank ;  and  the  Algonkins  have  none  meaning 
to  love.^*  Many  tribes  are  without  such  simple  adjectives 
as  warm,  long  and  hard,  and  they  express  the  idea  by 
saying  not  cold,  not  short,  or  not  soft,  or  they  com- 
pare the  object  of  which  they  are  speaking  with  some- 
thing which  is  warm,  long,  or  hard.^*  In  adjectives  they 
lack  comparatives,  and  they  convey  the  idea  that  John  is 
taller  than  James  by  saying  "  John  is  tall  and  James  is 
not  tall."  In  some  tribes  there  are  no  special  words  for 
I  and  you.  The  ideas  of  I  and  you  are  conveyed  among 
the  Greenlanders  by  "here"  and  "there;"  among  the 
Malays  by  "  servant "  and  "  master  ;  "  and  in  some  tribes, 
by  loud  and  low  tones,  the  loud  meaning  I,  as  nearest, 
and  the  low  you,  as  farther  away.^*  The  Mandingoes 
have  no  prepositions  equivalent  to  our  "  on  "  and  "  in  ;  " 
and  they  convey  the  idea  that  a  thing  is  on  the  table,  by 
saying  the  table  is  a  neck  to  it;  and  that  a  thing  is  in 
the  hut,  by  saying  the  hut  is  a  belly  to  it.^**  Similar 
rudimentary  forms  of  speech  are  found  in  China,  where 
the  idea  of  distance  is  conveyed  by  "  far-near  ;  "  of  weight 
by  "  light-heavy ;  "  of  conversation  by  "  I-asking-thou- 
answering  ;  "  and  difference  of  opinion  by  "  I-east-you- 
west ;  "  and  virtue,  loyalty,  justice,  temperance  and  respect 
for  parents  by  similar  combinations." 

In  the  languages  of  savages  the  words  for  immaterial 
conceptions  are  comparatively  few,  but  as  among  civilized 
people,  all  "  are  derived  by  meta])li()r  from  words  express- 
ive (;f  sensible  ideas/""  or  they  are  tlie  words  for  sensi- 


iqS  a  history  of  mankind. 

ble  ideas  used  also  with  another  meaning.  Thus  the 
word  for  soul  in  one  tribe  is  shadow;  in  another,  breath, 
and  the  same  term  may  mean  shadow,  the  soul  of  the 
living  man,  the  dead  spirit,  and  a  god.  The  verb  to  sit, 
among  the  Kaffirs  means  also  to  dwell,  to  live  and  to 
continue  ;  bush  means  also  a  refuge ;  to  eat  tosrether 
means  to  be  friends ;  and  the  idea,  that  he  is  proud,  is 
conveyed  by  saying  he  eats  himself  The  phrase  "  eat 
a  person,"  in  the  sense  of  confiscate  his  property,  is 
a  survival  of  cannibalism  ;  and  to  smell  a  person,  in  the 
sense  of  accusing  him  of  witchcraft,  suggests  the  savage 
custom  of  discovering  murderous  sorcerers  by  the  noses 
of  priests." 

The  Puris,  Botocudos,  Bushmen,  Tasmanians  and  some 
Australians  have  no  numerals  above  two  ;  the  Abipones 
and  some  Californians  have  none  above  three ;  the 
Guaranis  none  above  four ; ""  the  Veddahs  none  above 
five;  the  Greenlanders  and  Kamilaroi  none  above  six; 
and  the  latter  tribe  have  no  simple  numeral  above  three. 
For  four  they  said  "two-two;"  for  five,  "two-three;" 
for  six  "three-three." 

This  poverty  in  numerals  does  not  necessarily  imply 
the  inability  to  conceive  higher  numbers  distinctly ;  since 
by  holding  up  both  hands  together  five  times  in  suc- 
cession, any  number  under  fifty  can  be  indicated  with 
sufficient  clearness,  to  satisfy  the  savage  sense.  Thus, 
though  the  Bechuanas  have  numerals,  they  rarely  speak 
them,  and  some  indeed  do  not  know  them.  It  is  suffi- 
cient for  their  purposes  to  hold  up  their  fingers  for  small 
numbers,  and  to  say  many  for  larger  ones.  Those  tribes 
which  have  only  two  numerals,  give  the  name  of  multi- 
tude to  any  number  above  two. 

The   Coroados    name  their   three  numerals  after  the 


SEC.    98.    SOUNDS   AND   SIGNS.  1 99 

joints  of  the  fingers  ;  "^  in  the  tongue  of  one  tribe,  the  word 
for  one  means  the  forefinger ;  that  for  two  the  middle 
finger  ;  three  the  third  finger ;  four  the  Httle  finger ;  five 
the  hand;  ten  two  hands  ;  fifteen  two  hands  and  a  foot; 
twenty  a  man.  In  the  Persian,  Malay  and  Polynesian 
languages,  the  same  word  means  hand  and  five;  in  the 
Muysca  tongue  five  means  a  hand,  ten,  two  hands  ;  eleven, 
foot  one ;  twelve,  foot  two,  and  twenty  means  man.^'^ 
There  are  many  reasons  for  believing  that  men  counted 
by  scores  or  twenties  before  they  learned  to  count  by 
hundreds.  The  early  English  counted  by  scores  as  we 
find  in  the  phrase  threescore  and  ten ;  and  the  French 
also,  as  evinced  by  their  "  quatre-vingts  "  or  fourscore 
for  eighty.  The  Arowaks  count  by  scores  ;"^  and  the 
Hawaiians  had  presumably  the  same  system  of  enumera- 
tion, if  we  may  infer  from  the  fact  that  they  had  special 
words  for  400,  4,000,  40,000  and  400,000.^* 

In  the  Malay  and  Aztec  tongues,  one  means  literally 
one  stone ;  two  means  two  stones ;  and  three,  three 
stones.  The  Niuds  for  one,  two  and  three  say  one  fruit, 
two  fruits  and  three  fruits,  the  Javans  say  one  grain,  two 
grains,  three  grains.'''^  The  Latin  word  calculation  seems 
to  have  been  derived  from  calculus,  a  stone,  and  we  may 
presume  that  the  early  Romans  used  stones  in  counting. 

Sec.  98.  Sounds  and  Signs. — In  some  languages,  gen- 
eral terms  are  limited  to  special  meanings  by  special  or 
determinative  sounds,  such  as  the  click,  clack  and  cluck 
of  the  Hottentot.  These  sounds  are  made  by  drawing 
the  tongue  from  the  upper  part  of  the  mouth ;  the  click 
from  the  upper  front  teeth,  the  clack  from  the  front  of 
the  palate,  and  the  cluck  from  the  middle  or  back  of 
the  palate.  From  a  preceding  click  the  word  "Aap" 
receives  the  meaning  of  horse;  from  a  clack,  river,  and 


200  A   HISTORY   OF    MANKIND. 

from  a  cluck,  arrow.  In  some  South  African  tribes,  the 
clucks  are  attached  to  a  large  proportion  of  the  words, 
and  conversation  sounds  like  the  drawing,  of  corks  or 
the  gobbling  of  turkeys.  The  Wasakima  of  East  Africa 
begin  every  word  with  a  t'hu  or  t'ha,  as  if  spitting  sharply 
at  some  offensive  object.  The  speech  of  the  Fuegians  is 
a  coarse  guttural  clucking.^  Some  of  the  Indians  of  the 
northwestern  coast  of  North  America  have  numerous 
guttural  sounds  very  difficult  for  the  civilized  tongue  to 
master. 

Another  indication  of  the  several  separate  meanings  of 
the  same  word  is  the  intonation  used  by  the  Chinese,  Siam- 
ese, Yorubans,'^  Dahomans  and  Ashantees.*  The  use  of 
varying  places  in  the  gamut  in  the  enunciation  of  words 
as  qualifications  of  signification  is  especially  adapted  to 
monosyllabic  tongues  like  those  of  the  Chinese  and 
Siamese.* 

In  the  Annamitic  tongue,  "ba"  pronounced  with  a 
grave  accent  means  a  lady ;  with  a  sharp  accent,  the  fa- 
vorite of  a  prince ;  with  a  semi-grave  accent,  something 
thrown  away ;  with  a  grave  circumflex,  a  fruit  after  the 
juice  has  been  squeezed  out;  with  no  accent,  three;  and 
with  an  ascending  accent,  a  box  on  the  ear.  Thus  the 
sentence  "  Ba  ba  ba  ba  "  each  word  pronounced  with  a 
different  accent  may  mean,  "  Three  ladies  gave  a  box  on 
the  ear  to  the  favorite  of  a  prince."  A  singing  tone  is 
common  in  the  speech  of  Tonga,  Huahine  and  several 
other  Polynesian  Islands,*^  but  is  not  used  there  to  dis- 
tinguish the  meaning  of  words. 

A  notable  feature  of  many  savage  tongues  is  the  large 
proportion  of  words  containing  duplicated  syllables,  as 
in  the  English  words  papa,  Tartar  and  Berber.  Of  such 
words  there  are  three  in  a  thousand  in  English  ;  seventy- 


SEC.    98.    SOUNDS   AND   SIGNS.  20I 


two  on  an  average  in  four  aboriginal  American  tongues  ; 
seventy-three  in  each  of  six  African  ;  ninety-six  in  five 
Melanesian ;  and  one  hundred  and  sixty-nine  in  two 
Polynesian  languages.® 

Though  savage  tongues  in  some  cases  are  remarkably 
guttural,  as  a  general  rule,  they  have  brief  alphabets. 
The  Samoans  have  only  fourteen  letters  ;  the  only  con- 
sonants on  the  Tupuai  group  south  of  Tahiti,  are  those 
of  m,  n,  ng,  p,  r,  t,  v  and  one  guttural."  No  Polynesian 
tongue  has  more  than  ten  consonants ;  many  have  fewer. 
There  are  twenty  in  English.  The  Australian  tongues 
have  eight.  The  Maoris  have  no  b,  d,  f,  g,  j,  1,  q,  s,  v,  x, 
y,  or  z.^  S,  sh,  and  z  are  lacking  in  the  Polynesian 
tongues  generally,  and  in  pronouncing  European  words, 
they  substituted  k  for  s  and  sh.  Missionary  in  their 
mouths  became  mikonary.  The  Hawaiians,  like  many 
other  savages,  and  like  some  civilized  children,  cannot 
distinguish  between  k  and  t ;  or  between  1  and  r.  Kalo 
and  taro  are  for  them  equivalents.  The  Iroquois  had 
none  of  thj  labials — b,  p,  m,  f,  v,  w, — and  could  speak 
distinctly  with  very  little  movement  of  the  lips.^  Some 
of  the  tribes  on  the  western  coast  of  North  America 
could  pronounce  p  but  not  f,  nor  r ;  and  piway  was 
their  nearest  approach  to  fire.  The  Fijians  could  not 
use  b,  d,  or  g,  without  putting  m  or  n  before  it,  as  in 
Ngata,  and  Nduandua,^^  and  a  similar  use  of  m  and  n 
before  k,  t  d,  p,  b,  g,  and  ch  and  some  other  consonants 
is  found  in  portions  of  Africa.  In  Polynesia  every  syl- 
lable must  end  in  a  vowel,  and  two  consonants  must 
never  come  together,  and  the  same  rules  apply  with  few 
exceptions  in  some  portions  of  Africa."  To  the  New 
Zealander,  Bill  becomes  Biro  ;  William,  Wiremu  ;  and 
Tom,  Tommo ;  and  in    Tahiti,  Governor  is  Tavana. 


202  A    HISTORY   OF    MANKIND. 

Many  tribes  have  vocabularies  so  scanty  that  they 
cannot  converse  without  the  help  of  gesticulations,  and 
therefore  cannot  understand  one  another  in  the  dark. 
Such  are  the  Bushmen/'^  Tasmanians/'  Veddahs,"  Puris, 
Southern  Brazilians/^  Coroados,  Arrapahoes,  Comanches  /^ 
Cape  Palma  negroes,"  Marawas,'^  Kroomen,^®  Adayahs,^" 
Marquesans,  and  Chinooks.  The  obscurity  of  unaided 
speech  arises  mainly  from  the  fact  that  one  word  has  a 
multitude  of  analogous  meanings,  and  in  conversation 
the  speaker  must  specialize  his  signification  by  some  vis- 
ible sign.  Thus  in  Typee  "one  word  expresses  the  ideas 
of  sleep,  rest,  reclining,  sitting,  leaning,  and  all  other 
things  anyways  analogous  thereto,  the  particular  mean- 
ing being  shown  chiefly  by  a  variety  of  gestures  and  the 
eloquent  expression  of  the  countenance."^*  The  face  is 
much  used  in  the  sign  language  of  many  tribes.  Grim- 
aces are  prominent  in  the  conversation  of  the  Veddahs  f  ^ 
and  the  Tasmanians  "  help  out  their  words  with  winks, 
nods,  twists,  and  eyebrow  liftings,  as  well  as  with  rapid 
arm  and  finger  movements."'^'  The  people,  accustomed 
to  such  pantomime,  use  it  often  in  preference,  even  when 
their  words  would  suffice  to  convey  their  ideas  distinctly. 

They  spare  effort  with  speech  more  than  with  gest- 
ures. The  savage  of  Southern  Brazil,  intending  to  con- 
vey the  idea  that  he  is  about  to  go  into  the  forest,  speaks 
the  words  "wood  go,"  and  sticks  out  his  lips  in  the  di- 
rection which  he  intends  to  take."*  The  West  African 
chief  says  "do  it,"  and  by  gestures  indicates  the  act  to 
be  done  and  the  person  to  do  it.^*  In  some  tribes  the 
speaker,  who  conveys  the  idea  of  number,  does  so  by 
gesticulation,  and  the  hearers  speak  the  numerals  so  as 
to  show  that  they  have  the  correct  figure.^'^  The  actions 
of  a  party  of  South  Africans  listening  to  a  hunter  telling 


SEC.    99.    GRAMMAR.  203 

about  a  trip  on  which    he  saw  many  different  kinds  of 
large  game,  suggest  a  play  to  the  European  observer. 

The  extensive  use  of  gesticulation  through  many  gen- 
erations has  led  to  the  adoption  of  a  sign  language,  the 
main  features  of  which  are  the  same  among  the  savages 
of  America,  Africa,  and  Malaysia,  and  the  deaf  mutes  of 
civilized  countries.  This  mode  of  communicating  ideas, 
based  on  imitations,  analogies,  associations,  and  resem- 
blances, when  once  learned,  is  quickly  understood  and 
easily  remembered.  Its  daily  use  checks  the  improve- 
ment of  speech  among  the  low  savages,  while  the  habits  of 
reading  and  writing,  and  the  consequent  familiarity  with 
ideas  and  delicate  shades  of  meaning  not  susceptible  of 
communication  by  signs,  have  contributed  to  the  neglect 
of  gesticulation  in  enlightened  nations.  The  higher  the 
education,  the  fewer  the  signs  and  the  more  explicit  the 
words.  ^^ 

Sec.  99.  Grammar. — Of  all  tongues  known  to  philol- 
ogists, the  most  rudimentary,  in  the  form  of  its  words 
and  the  construction  of  its  sentences,  is  the  Chinese.  It 
has  neither  inflexion,  parts  of  speech,  nor  syntax.  The 
same  word  is  noun,  adjective,  and  verb,  according  to  the 
place  in  which  it  is  used.  The  ideas  live,  alive,  and  to 
live  are  expressed  by  the  same  term.  "Jin"  means  man, 
and"ngo"bad;  "jin  ngo  "  means  the  man  is  bad;  "ngo 
jin  "  means  bad  man.^  The  languages  of  the  aboriginal 
Americans,  Africans,  and  Pacific  Islanders,  have  been 
carefully  studied  in  typical  cases,  and  neither  among 
them,  nor  among  other  peoples  has  any  tongue  so  prim- 
itive in  its  features  been  found.  In  sj^eech  the  Chinese 
are  nearer  than  any  other  nation  or  tribe  to  the  child- 
hood of  humanity. 

Many  low  tribes  have  complex  systems  of  inflexion. 


204  A  HISTORY  OF  MANKIND. 

Some  have  as  many  tenses  as  had  the  Latins.  Ridley, 
who  had  been  a  missionary  among  the  AustraHans, 
wrote  thus  of  their  tongue  :  "  The  inflexion  of  verbs  and 
nouns,  the  arrangement  of  sentences,  and  the  methods 
of  imparting  emphasis,  indicate  an  accuracy  of  thought 
and  a  force  of  expression  surpassing  all  that  is  com- 
monly supposed  to  be  obtainable  by  a  savage  race."^ 
The  Fijians,  according  to  Miss  Constance  Gordon  Gum- 
ming, have  "  more  words  to  express  shades  of  meaning 
than  any  European  language."  No  distinguished  philol- 
ogist has  given  such  praise  to  any  savage  tongue  and  it 
certainly  could  not  be  given  truthfully  to  savage  tongues 
generally. 

Sec.  I  go.  Rapid  Change. — Among  non-tilling  savages 
living  in  small  and  isolated  groups,  every  group  or  vil- 
lage or  valley  has  a  distinct  dialect.  In  portions  of  New 
Guinea,  Western  Africa,^  California,  and  Canada,^  the 
traveler  comes  on  a  new  tongue  about  once  in  ten 
miles.  Not  only  are  the  languages  veiy  numerous,  but 
they  change  much  within  a  single  generation.  Mission- 
aries in  Central  America  found  that  after  a  lapse  of  ten 
years,  a  vocabulary  had  to  be  rewritten.^  In  the  period 
of  less  than  twenty  years  between  the  visits  of  Cook 
and  Vancouver  to  Tahiti,  tlie  names  of  the  numerals, 
two,  four,  five,  six,  and  eight,  had  changed  there,*  and 
new  words  had  been  adopted  for  about  fifty  of  the  most 
common  ideas.^ 

The  savage  fears  to  speak  the  name  of  his  dead  friend 
or  of  his  chief,  and  since  men  are  named  after  familiar 
natural  objects,  a  tongue  may  be  much  modified  by  such 
influences  in  one  generation.  If  a  man  called  Owl  dies, 
the  word  owl  is  dropped  and  mouse-catcher  or  some 
equivalent  is  adopted  in  its  place.     This  custom  is  found 


SEC.  lOI.  INTELLECTUAL  DEVELOPMENT.       20$ 

in  Asia,  Africa,  America,  Australia,  and  Polynesia.^ 
The  Tahitians  and  Zulus  not  only  abandon  a  word  used 
as  a  sacred  name,  but  a  syllable  in  such  a  name/  "  Po," 
meaning  night,  dropped  out  of  the  Tahitian  language 
when  Pomare  became  chief,  and  on  the  accession  of 
Taimalelangi,  whose  name  meant  "  sea-and-sky,"  two  of 
the  most  familiar  nouns  were  abandoned. 

The  suggestions  of  accident  are  potent  causes  of 
change.  An  act  notable  for  wisdom  or  folh',  bravery  or 
cowardice,  skill  or  awkwardness,  is  named  after  the  per- 
son who  did  it.  New  words,  introduced  by  children 
while  playing,  may  prevail  over  small  districts  and  for 
brief  periods  in  advanced  culture,  but  soon  die  out;  in 
savagism,  they  hold  their  ground.  Extensive  political 
organization,  popular  assemblies,  a  sacred  literature  and, 
above  all,  a  system  of  recording  sounds,  in  extensive  use, 
are  great  aids  to  permanence  of  language. 

Sec.  ioi.  Intellectual  Development. — Morality  begins 
in  the  affection  of  the  mother  for  her  child ;  and  the  first 
known  manifestation  of  its  influence  on  the  political  or- 
ganization is  the  fidelity  of  the  members  of  a  little  group 
to  one  another.  It  must  be  very  low  among  the  non- 
tilling  tribes  which  arc  divided  into  small  independent 
clusters,  which  pay  high  honor  to  the  successful  assassin 
and  which  have  religions  without  the  least  ethical  teach- 
ing. Among  the  tribes  in  the  early  stages  of  tillage,  we 
find  that  the  man  cannot  take  his  place  among  the  war- 
riors until  he  has  killed  somebody ;  that  scalps  and 
skulls  are  fashionable  trophies;  that  gourmand  cannibal- 
ism is  widely  prevalent;  that  the  gods  are  liars,  murder- 
ers, and  cannibals ;  and  that  the  rewards  of  the  future 
life  are  not  for  virtue  but  for  military  prowess.  In  the 
tribes  with  slaves,  nobles,  hereditary  priests,  and  despotic 


2o6  A    HISTORY   OF   MANKIND, 

chiefs,  the  moral  ideas  have  advanced,  not  by  their  own 
strength,  but  they  have  been  dragged  along  by  the 
growth  of  other  branches  of  culture.  The  enlargement 
of  the  political  organization,  the  higher  sense  of  alle- 
giance, the  improvement  in  military  dicipline,  the  accu- 
mulation of  property,  the  change  in  the  relations  of  women 
to  men,  and  the  demand  for  chaste  conduct  in  wives 
and  young  women, — all  these  stimulated,  broadened, 
and  strengthened  the  popular  morality. 

In  language  we  find  many  traces  of  evolution.  One 
tongueconsistsof  monosyllables  which  have  no  inflexion 
and  may  be  noun,  verb  or  adjective  as  occasion  may 
require.  The  list  of  syllables  is  limited  to  several  hun- 
dred, but  different  intonations  are  used  to  give  different 
significations.  In  some  languages,  one  word  has  many 
meanings,  and  gestures  are  added  to  distinguish  which  is 
intended  in  any  special  case.  Certain  tribes  are  so  poor 
in  their  vocabulary  and  their  ideas  that  they  have  no 
word  for  any  numeral  above  three.  In  the  tongues  of 
all  peoples,  civilized  and  barbarous  as  well  as  savage,  the 
terms  for  abstract  and  general  ideas  are  derived  directly 
or  indirectly  from  the  names  of  things  perceptible  to 
sense. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

POLITY. 

Section  102.  Headless  Groups. — ^The  lowest  form  of 
government,  known  to  civilized  observation,  is  the  head- 
less group, — that  is  a  small  community,  politically  inde- 
pendent, without  a  chief  entitled  to  office  by  inheritance 
or  formal  election/  The  person  who  leads  merely 
because  of  his  superior  energy,  courage,  or  tact,  does  not 
deserve  to  be  called  a  chief  Such  headless  groups  are 
most  abundant  in  tribes  organized  on  the  basis  of  the 
feminine  clan  in  non-tilling  culture ;  and  they  occupy  a 
large  part  of  Australia.  They  have  no  orderly  councils  ; 
and  no  punishment  of  crime  save  by  retaliation. 

Migratory  habits  are  unfavorable  to  government  and 
chieftainship.  The  Abos  of  Hindostan  say  they  are  "  like 
tigers  ;  two  cannot  dwell  in  the  same  den."  Usually  not 
more  than  two  or  three  of  their  huts  are  found  in  a 
group.^  The  Mintras  of  Sumatra  have  a  similar  lack  of 
political  organization.  The  Fuegians,  the  Jungle  Ved- 
dahs,  the  Cayaguas  of  South  America/  some  Bushmen 
and  some  Ncpaulese  who  are  nomadic  in  their  mode  of 
life,  some  semi-settled  Eskimos,  and  the  settled  Arafuras 
and  land  Dyaks  of  upper  Sarawak,  live  in  similar  head- 
less groups. 

Se'J.  103.  Freedom. — The  supposition  that  savages  live 
in  freedom  is  based  on  incorrect  definition.     It  has  been 

(207) 


208  A   HISTORY    OF   MANKIND. 

asserted  that  freedom,  that  is  pohtical  freedom,  is  "the 
power  to  act  in  obedience  to  desire ;  "  that  "  government 
in  its  fundamental  notion  is  the  necessary  foe  of  liberty ; " 
that  "  man  never  can  be  free  until  he  can  abolish  the 
restrictive  and  protective  attributes  of  government,"  and 
that  "  the  liberty  to  do  wrong  is  as  sacred  as  the  liberty 
to  do    right.'" 

But  writers,  who  use  such  language  and  accept  such 
ideas,  do  not  understand  the  conception  of  liberty 
accepted  by  the  leading  political  philosophers  of  our 
time.  The  true  freedom,  the  freedom  which  the  world 
admires,  towards  which  it  is  marching,  which  inspires 
the  devotion  of  enlightened  statesmen,  is  not  anarchical; 
it  is  not  the  privilege  of  doing  wrong  ;  it  is  not  the  priv- 
ilege of  violating  the  rights  of  others  ;  it  is  not  the  legal- 
ization of  murder,  torture,  slavery,  robbery  and  all  other 
forms  of  injustice  which  selfish  greed  or  passion  may  sug- 
gest. Itisthevery  contrary  of  all  these.  It  is  a  condition 
in  which  the  law  promises  political  equality  to  all  citizens, 
and  secures  it  to  them  by  an  upright  and  efficient  admin- 
istration of  the  executive  and  judicial  departments  of 
the  government  against  all  encroachment.  It  is  a  condi- 
tion in  which  every  citizen  is  permitted  to  do  all  things 
that  do  not  conflict  with  the  equal  privilege  and  enjoy- 
ment of  others,  and  in  which  every  interference  with  these 
equal  privileges  and  enjoyments  is  prevented.  Like  all 
other  human  institutions,  political  freedom  exists  only  in 
a  defective  form.  Though  it  will  never  become  perfect, 
it  will  never  cease  to  improve.  Its  higher  developments 
are  possible  only  under  complex  written  law,  and  there- 
fore are  never  found  among  savages.  Political  progress 
begins  with  the  anarchy  of  the  non-tilling  savage  and 
advances  steadily  towards  ideal  and  perfect  liberty. 


SEC.    103.    FREEDOM.  2O9 

The  superficial  observer,  passing  hastily  through  a 
community  of  the  lowest  savages,  such  as  Bushmen,  Tas- 
manians,  Australians  or  Lower  Californians,  and  seeing 
that  they  have  no  clothing,  no  horses,  no  tilled  fields,  no 
domestic  animal  save  perhaps  the  dog,  no  stock  of  food 
sufficient  to  last  a  month  or  even  a  week  in  advance,  no 
chiefs  empowered  to  issue  commands  or  to  collect  tribute, 
might  imagine  that  such  people  if  not  free  were  at  least 
equal.  But  a  careful  examination  will  show  that  except 
in  their  poverty,  great  inequality  prevails  among  them. 
As  between  the  two  sexes,  the  men  have  all  the  power. 
The  women  are  slaves  rather  than  wives,  and  are  treated 
with  general  and  severe  cruelty.  They  are  not  permitted 
to  eat  the  best  food,  nor  to  associate  with  their  masters 
on  terms  of  social  equality  ;  and  may  be  beaten  or  slain 
without  giving  any  person  the  right  to  interfere  or  com- 
plain.  As  between  the  men,  the  relation  is  not  much 
better.  The  stronger  and  more  warlike  clans  are  con- 
tinually encroaching  upon  the  weaker,  and  massacre  is 
their  delight.  Within  the  clans,  the  women — the  chief 
kind  of  property — are  divided  very  unequally.  Lang, 
after  a  long  acquaintance  with  the  aboriginal  Australians, 
wrote  that  "  instead  of  enjoying  perfect  personal  freedom, 
as  it  would  at  first  appear,  they  are  governed  by  a  code 
of  rules  and  a  set  of  customs  which  form  one  of  the 
most  cruel  tyrannies  that  has  ever  perhaps  existed  on  the 
face  of  the  earth,  subjecting  not  only  the  will,  but  the 
Hfe  and  property,  of  the  weak  to  the  dominion  of  the 
strong.  The  whole  tendency  of  the  system  is  to  give 
everything  to  the  strong  and  old,  to  the  prejudice  of  the 
weak  and  young,  and  more  particularly  to  the  detriment 
of  the  women.  They  have  rules  by  which  the  best  food, 
the  best  pieces,  the  best  animals,  etc.,  are  prohibited  to 


2IO  A    HISTORY   OF    MANKIND. 

the  women  and  young  men,  and  reserved  for  the  old 
men.  The  women  are  generally  appropriated  to  the  old 
and  powerful,  some  of  whom  possess  from  four  to  seven; 
while  wives  are  altogether  denied  to  young  men,  unless 
they  have  sisters  to  give  in  exchange  and  are  strong  and 
courageous  enough  to  prevent  their  sisters  from  being 
taken  without  exchange."" 

Sec.  104.  Unstable  Heads! up. — The  headless  stage  of 
polity  is  succeeded  by  that  of  unstable  headship  in  which 
there  are  chiefs  with  insecure  titles  or  powers  so  scanty 
that  they  cannot  issue  orders,  and  can  at  most  offer  sug- 
gestions or  make  requests.  Many  tribes  have  no  chief 
save  in  time  of  war,  and  then  his  authority  is  to  lead,  not 
to  command,  and  is  limited  exclusively  to  military  affairs. 
He  is  expected  to  invite  warriors  to  follow  him  in  his 
military  expeditions,  but  he  has  no  right  to  complain  if 
they  stay  at  home  or  follow  some  other  person.  The 
unstable  chieftianship  has  no  revenue. 

The  tribes  with  unstable  headship  include  the  Anda- 
manese,  Abipones,  Snakes  and  some  Bedouins,  who  are 
nomadic  in  their  mode  of  life ;  also  the  village  Veddahs, 
the  Bodos,  the  Dhimals,  the  Chinooks,  some  Eskimos, 
some  Kamtschatkans  and  some  Caribs,  who  are  semi- 
settled;  and  the  Todas,  Nagas,  Karens,  Santals,  Vat^ans, 
Fannese,  Coroados,  some  Dyaks,  and  some  New  Guinea 
tribes,  who  dwell  in  permanent  settlements.  Most  of 
these  tribes  recognize  no  chiefs  except  in  time  of  war, 
and  then  confer  little  authority  on  them. 

A  common  feature  of  weak  political  organization  is 
that  every  village  is  independent,  and  among  its  residents 
there  is  no  sense  of  loyalty  or  duty  of  peace  towards  the 
inhabitants  of  adjacent  villages  of  the  same  blood,  lan- 
guage and  customs.     This  is  the  general  condition    of 


SEC.    105.    STABLE    HEADSHIP  21 1 

tribes  without  chiefs,  and  is  common  among  those  in 
which  the  power  of  the  chief  is  weak  or  unstable.  With 
village  independence,  goes  the  man's  privilege  to  move 
from  one  village  to  another.  In  this  way  an  unpopular 
chief  may  find  himself  left  without  supporters.  Such 
\illage  independence  prevails  among  many  Bedouins, 
whose  migratory  life,  the  necessary  result  of  their  pas- 
toral condition  in  a  desert  country,  is  not  favorable  to  the 
establishment  of  permanent  authority. 

Some  few  tribes  elect  their  chiefs  for  terms  less  than 
life.  In  Rotuma  the  term  is  six  months  ;  in  Ambriz,  five 
years.  The  Bedouins  have  a  hereditary  military  leader, 
and  an  elective  political  chief;  and  some  tribes  have  a 
hereditary  political  and  elective  military  chief  In  unsta- 
ble headship,  and  weak  stable  headship,  the  chiefs  are 
required,  by  many  tribes,  to  give  periodical  feasts  to  their 
subjects  and  on  such  occasions  to  distribute  presents.^ 

Sec,  105.  Stable  Headship. — Stable  chieftainship  made 
its  first  appearance  among  tribes  organized  on  the  basis 
of  the  feminine  clan  in  tilling  culture.  Each  clan  elected 
a  political  chief  and  a  military  chief,  who  held  office  until 
he  was  deposed  by  the  clan  assembly,  and  as  this 
power  of  deposition  was  very  rarely  exercised,  the  ten- 
ure was  practically  for  life.  The  power  attached  to  the 
office  was  not  great.  The  political  chief  could  not 
administer  justice;  the  military  chief  could  not  enforce 
his  commands.  The  office  had  more  dignity  than 
authority. 

The  frequency  of  warfare,  the  importance  of  having 
brave  chiefs  experienced  in  arms,  the  timidity  of  women 
generally  and  their  abstinence  from  the  use  of  weapons, 
have  excluded  them  from  chieftainship  in  most  .savage 
tribes,  even  in  those  which  traced  their  blood  exclusively 


212  A   HISTORY   OF   MANKIND. 

in  the  female  line.  Exceptions  to  this  rule  are  the  Nar- 
ragansetts  of  Rhode  Island,  the  Guaranis  of  South 
America  and  some  African  tribes,  which  perm.it  women 
to  exercise  the  office  of  chief 

Sec.  io6.  Industrial  Chiefs. — There  are  industrial  chiefs, 
with  authority  over  matters  of  trade  and  labor,  in  Fiji, 
Dahomey,  and  some  Dyak  countries.  In  Celebes  and 
Eastern  Africa,  the  days  for  commencing  to  sow  and  to 
harvest  are  fixed  by  chiefs ;  among  the  Kadogans  and 
Hawaiians,  the  prices  of  food  are  regulated  by  them ; 
among  the  Tongans,  traffic  at  fairs  is  under  their  super- 
vision ;  among  the  Khonds,  Mundrucus  and  many  Poly- 
nesians, the  chief  is  the  broker  of  the  community ;  and 
among  many  tribes  of  Hindostan,  the  chief  apportions 
the  land  of  the  village  among  the  heads  of  families 
and  superintends  removals  from  one  site  to  another. 

Sec.  107.  Assemblies,  etc. — Assemblies  to  deliberate 
about  public  affairs  had  their  origin  in  non-tilling  culture, 
beginning  with  military  and  afterwards  extending  to 
political  affairs.  Their  highest  development  in  savagism 
was  among  the  Redmen  east  of  the  Mississippi,  where 
every  village  had  its  public  square,  in  which  the  warriors 
gathered  every  morning  and,  if  public  business  demanded 
their  consideration,  held  a  formal  assembly.  In  many  of 
the  villages  there  is  a  large  hut  suitable  for  assemblies 
to  be  held  in  wet  or  cold  weather.  On  such  occasions, 
the  right  of  speech  belongs  exclusively  to  the  chiefs, 
distinguished  warriors,  and  such  other  persons  as  might 
be  called  upon  by  a  chief  There  is  no  precise  rule  of 
order  as  in  a  civilized  legislative  body ;  no  secretary ;  no 
counting  of  votes.  The  decisions  are  rendered  by 
acclamation.*  In  many  tribes  the  boys  and  women  may 
sit  outside  of  the  circle   of  warriors  and  join    in    the 


SEC.    1 08.    CONFEDERACIES.  213 

acclamations.  These  assemblies  of  the  warriors  elect 
the  chiefs  and  have  general  jurisdiction  of  all  the  more 
important  political  affairs,  especially  of  peace  and  war, 
among  the  North  American  Indians,  and  are  fre- 
quent and  influential  in  many  African  tribes.  Those 
tribes  which  have  strong  hereditary  nobilities,  usually  do 
not  permit  the  common  freemen  to  hold  assemblies,  but 
restrict  the  public  discussions  of  political  affairs  to  coun- 
cils of  nobles. 

Sec.  108.  Confederacies. — Representative  governments 
were  not  unknown  to  savagism.  They  existed  among 
the  North  American  Indians  and  also  among  the  Batta 
Malays  and  the  Berbers.  The  Iroquois  confederation 
comprised  five  tribes,  each  tribe  divided  into  several 
clans,  each  clan  with  its  popular  assembly  and  its 
elective  chiefs  who  formed  a  tribal  council.  Each  tribe 
had  its  federal  representatives.  The  confederate  council, 
consisting  of  fifty  members,  had  general  charge  of  peace 
and  war ;  it  elected  two  federal  military  chiefs  who  led 
the  troops  in  war ;  it  installed  the  clan  chiefs  elected  by 
the  clan  assemblies;  it  presumably  had  power  to  annul 
elections  of  unsuitable  persons,  and  had  certain  cere- 
monial or  religious  functions,  as  at  funerals  of  distin- 
guished warriors.  In  the  meetings  each  tribe  had  only 
one  speaker  and  one  vote,  and  there  was  no  decision  with- 
out unanimity.  The  proceedings  were  secret  until  com- 
municated by  order  to  the  tribal  councils,  which  could 
then  transmit  them  to  the  clan  assemblies. 

The  Wolf  clan  of  the  Onandaga  tribe  was  entitled  to 
a  federal  councillor  who  was  keeper  of  the  wampum, 
with  functions  suggestive  of  those  of  a  modern  secretary. 
Whenever  a  clan  chief  was  installed,  the  keeper  of  the 
wampum  was  one  of  the  chief  speakers.     He  produced 


214  A    HISTORY    OF    MANKIND. 

his  belt  of  beads,  and  made  it  the  text  of  an  address 
explaining  the  meaning  of  the  different  strands,  indic- 
ative of  the  manner  in  which  the  confederacy  was 
organized,  the  powers  conferred  on  the  federal  council, 
and  the  duties  of  the  clans  and  tribes  to  one  another.^ 

There  were,  every  year,  about  half  a  dozen  federal 
religious  festivals,  and  at  each  of  these  the  federal  council 
held  a  meeting,  and  took  charge  of  the  ceremonies. 
Whenever  a  new  clan  chief  was  to  be  installed,  it  held  a 
session  of  seven  days.  The  first  day  was  devoted  to 
mourning  for  the  dead  chief:  the  second  to  the  installa- 
tion of  his  successqr ;  and  the  others  to  brief  meetings 
in  which  there  were  formal  addresses.  Every  day  dur- 
ing these  councils,  the  councillors  dined  together  at 
twilight. 

This  Iroquois  confederation  was  maintained  for  three 
centuries  in  harmonious  and  effective  action.^ 

We  have  no  clear  account  of  any  other  federal  govern- 
ment among  the  aboriginal  Americans,  but  there  are 
traces  of  it  among  the  Muscoculgees  (including  the 
Creeks,  Choctaws,  Chickasaws,  Cherokees  andSeminoles), 
the  Upper  Missouri  tribes  (including  the  Mandans,  Mini- 
tarees  and  Crows),  the  Lower  Missouri  tribes  (including 
the  Omahas,  lowas,  Punkas,  Otoes,  Kaws  and  Winne- 
bagoes),  the  Dakotas,  the  Munsees,  and  the  Mohegans. 
In  all  these  cases,  the  warrior  considered  his  allegiance 
to  his  clan  as  the  strongest,  to  the  tribe  weaker,  and  to 
the  confederacy  weakest. 

Every  Friday,  the  Berbers  of  Morocco  meet  in  the 
market  places  of  their  villages  to  consider  public  affairs, 
if  any  should  demand  their  attention.  T\yice  a  year  this 
popular  assembly  elects  a  mayor,  councilmen  and  sev- 
eral other  officials ;  and  the  mayors,  as  representatives 


SEC.    109.    RETALIATION'.  215 

of  the  villages,  form  a  tribal  council.'  The  Batta  Malays 
also  have  tribal  councils,  consisting  of  representatives 
each  of  whom  is  chosen  by  his  commune,  which  last 
may  include  as  many  as  ten  villages.* 

When  the  student  considers  that  representation  is  one 
of  the  main  features  in  which  the  governments  of  the 
modern  Europeans  surpass  those  of  ancient  Greece  and 
Rome,  to  whose  greatest  statesmen  and  political  philoso- 
phers its  principles  were  unknov»ai ;  and  when  with  our 
representative  governments  he  compares  the  greatly 
inferior  contemporaneous  despotisms ;  when  he  keeps 
these  ideas  before  his  mind,  it  seems  strauije  to  him  to 
be  told  that  the  Iroquois  confederation  with  its  systematic 
representation,  its  orderly  councils,  and  its  prosperity 
dating  from  a  time  before  Columbus,  belongs  to  a  lower 
step  of  political  development  than  the  brutal  and  violent 
despotism  of  Dahomey.  But  it  is  nevertheless  true. 
The  Iroquois  were  the  best  representatives  of  tribes  with 
weak  chiefs ;  the  Dahomans  are  among  the  worst  of  those 
with  strong,  stable  chiefs. 

Sec.  109.  Retaliation. — Having  no  sense  of  moral 
obligation  to  anyone  beyond  the  limits  of  their  own 
small  domestic  group,  and  no  idea  that  violence  to  an 
outsider  is  wrong,  non-tilling  savages  do  not  feel  the 
need  of  a  governmental  administration.  They  find  it 
necessary  however  that  group  should  defend  itself  against 
group,  and  for  this  purpose  they  adopted  retaliation, 
which  prevailed  everywhere  in  the  low  tribes,  and  exten- 
sively in  higher  conditions,  even  far  into  barbarism. 

This  system  requires  that  any  damage  to  person  or 
property,  even  if  done  unintentionally  or  in  self-defense, 
must  be  avenged  by  indicting  a  similar  injury.  No  dis- 
tinction   is    made    as    to    the    obligation    of  retaliation. 


2l6  A    HISTORY   OF   MANKIND. 

between  treacherous  assassination  and  justifiable  homi- 
cide. Such  a  confusion,  in  regard  to  the  moral  character 
of  actions,  is  the  natural  result  of  the  lack  of  judicial 
investigation.  Without  evidence  of  the  motives,  and 
with  the  knowledge  of  a  general  hostility  towards  every- 
body outside  of  the  group,  custom  established  the  prin- 
ciple that  every  injury  was  to  be  regarded  as  malicious 
and  without  excuse.  The  thirst  of  the  relatives  for  ven- 
geance however  would  not  be  so  fierce,  if  they  knew 
that  the  man  to  be  avenged  had  provoked  his  fate  by 
malignant  violence  or  gross  folly. 

If  the  victim  of  the  wron'sr  survived  and  was  able  to 
punish  the  offender,  the  chief  duty  of  retaliation  rested  on 
him ;  and  he  was  required  to  get  as  near  an  equivalent 
as  possible ;  an  eye  for  an  eye  ;  a  finger  for  a  finger ;  an 
ear  for  an  ear.  If  his  horse  had  been  stolen  he  must 
recover  the  animal  or  steal  another  of  equal  value.  In 
case  of  homicide,  the  obligation  rested  on  certain  rela- 
tives, and  if  there  were  none,  then  on  the  group,  clan  or 
tribe.  The  duty  is  not  limited  to  persons  of  adult  age 
at  the  time  the  offense  was  committed,  nor  even  to  per- 
sons then  living,  but  descends  to  those  of  subsequent 
birth,  to  posthumous  son  and  grandson,  nephew  and 
grandnephew.  In  many  Arab  tribes  it  rests  with  spe- 
cial force  on  all  the  male  descendants  of  the  same  great- 
great-grandfather ;  and  under  some  circumstances  may 
remain  in  force  for  more  than  a  century.  The  son  whose 
father's  death  is  unavenged,  must  wear  his  father's  slip- 
pers once  a  year. 

The  universal  authority  of  the  retaliatory  system 
among  non-tilling  savages,  its  general  prevalence  in  the 
higher  tribes,  and  its  acceptance  by  many  barbarous 
nations,  are  significant  illustrations  of  the  rudeness  and 


SEC.    109.    RETALIATION.  21/ 

violence  of  human  nature  in  the  earher  stages  of  culture, 
and  stronsr  evidences  of  the  fact  that  those  who  do  not 
combine  their  forces  for  energetic  defense,  would  soon 
be  plundered  and  destroyed  without  pity.  Because  of 
the  general  consciousness  that  it  was  indispensable  as  a 
method  of  defense,  its  enforcement  was  the  most  sacred 
of  all  obligations  and  neglect  to  enforce  it  was  the  most 
disgraceful  of  all  offenses. 

Writing  of  the  Australian  aborigines.  Sir  George  Grey 
said,  "  The  holiest  duty  a  native  is  called  on  to  perform 
is  that  of  avenging  the  death  of  his  nearest  relation,  for 
it  is  his  peculiar  duty  to  do  so ;  until  he  has  fuliilled 
this  task,  he  is  constantly  taunted  by  the  old  women  ; 
his  wives,  if  he  is  married,  would  soon  quit  him ;  if  he 
is  unmarried,  not  a  single  young  woman  would  speak 
to  him ;  his  mother  would  constantly  cry  and  lament 
that  she  should  ever  have  given  birth  to  so  degenerate 
a  son ;  his  father  would  treat  him  with  contempt,  and 
reproaches  would  constantly  be  sounded  in  his  ear."  ^ 

As  part  of  the  duty  of  retaliation  rests  on  the  mem- 
bers of  the  family,  village  or  clan,  according  to  the  sys- 
tem on  which  the  tribe  is  organized,  so  satisfaction  may 
be  attained  by  punishing  any  of  the  family,  village,  or 
clan  of  the  offender.  The  man  who  provokes  retaliation 
thus  exposes  his  friends  to  danger,  and  in  communities 
which  are  beginning  to  accumulate  property,  and  to  pre- 
fer peaceful  industry,  he  becomes  unpopular,  and  sub- 
jects himself  to  the  danger  of  expulsion.  Arab  robbers 
usually  avoid  homicide  f  )r  fear  that  it  will  induce  their 
friends  to  turn  against  them. 

In  the  blood  feuds  between  families  or  clans,  one  of 
the  main  ideas  of  savage  justice  is  that  as  many  should 
be  slain  on  one  side  as  on  the  other,  and  in  some  gases 


21 8  A    HISTORY    OF    MANKIND. 

it  is  only  on  the  basis  of  such  a  calculation,  that  peace 
can  be  made.  The  party,  which  has  lost  the  greatest 
number,  demands  that  the  other  shall  surrender  enough 
victims  to  equalize  the  account  or  shall  pay  the  custom- 
ary equivalent  in  money  or  other  property."^ 

Sec.  no.  Retaliation  Restricted. — The  law  of  retalia- 
tion decreased  in  importance  with  every  political  change, 
after  the  establishment  of  the  small  headless  group.  It 
diminished  when  the  feminine  clan  arose,  and  when  the 
masculine  clan  appeared,  and  when  the  clan  grew  to  in- 
clude many  people ;  and  when  clans  disappeared  in  con- 
solidated tribes;  and  when  tribal  governments  became 
stable  and  strong.  The  independence  of  the  group,  clan, 
or  family,  on  which  the  idea  of  retaliation  is  based,  is  in- 
consistent with  the  peace  of  the  tribe  and  with  the  dig- 
nity and  power  of  the  hereditary  chief  Although  it 
could  not  be  suddenly  overthrown,  it  was  subjected  to  a 
succession  of  limitations  by  substituting  fines  for  per- 
sonal violence,  by  restrictions  of  time  within  which  the 
punishment  must  be  inflicted,  by  instituting  asylums 
where  offenders  should  be  secure,  and  by  requiring  that 
vengeance  should  not  be  taken  without  the  previous 
consent  of  the  chief  or  priest. 

Many  tribes  have  schedules  of  penalties  accepted  by 
custom,  with  allowances  for  differences  in  rank.  The 
fine  for  killing  a  freeman  is  more  than  for  a  slave  ;  more 
for  a  noble  than  for  a  freeman  ;  more  for  a  man  than  for 
a  woman.  Among  the  Gallas,  a  thousand  oxen  will  pac- 
ify the  relatives  of  a  murdered  man ;  fifty  are  enough  for 
those  of  a  woman.  Peaceable  settlements  are  most  fre- 
quent when  the  offended  clan  is  the  weaker  of  the  two, 
when  there  was  great  provocation  for  the  offense,  when 
the  two  clans  are  exposed  to  a  great  danger  from  the 


SEC.     IIO.    RETALIATION    RESTRICTED.  2I9 

same  enemy,  or  when  both  are  intimately  related  to 
some  third  organization  which  uses  its  influence  to  re- 
store friendly  feeling.  Among  the  Malays,  money  com- 
pensation must  always  be  accepted  when  a  superior  has 
slain  an  inferior,  but  never  when  the  victim  was  the 
superior  in  political  rank.  They  have  asylums,  and  he 
who  reaches  one,  is  exempt  from  the  blood  penalty  but 
must  pay  the  established  indemnity.  There  is  also  a 
limitation  of  time,  after  the  lapse  of  which  the  offender 
may  present  himself  with  the  pecuniary  fine  and  be  re- 
leased from  further  responsibility.  The  avengers  among 
the  Batta  jVIalays  eat  the  murderer,  subject  to  retaliation. 
The  Mosaic  law  forbids  the  acceptance  of  money  satis- 
faction ;^  the  Koran  permits  it."* 

Asylums  for  refugees  from  retaliation  were  favored  by 
despotic  chiefs,  whose  interests  were  adverse  to  the  sys- 
tem, and  who  yet  had  no  better  way  of  administering 
justice.  In  Kaffirland  the  grave  of  the  chief  becomes  a  sa- 
cred place,  where  the  murderer  is  safe  from  punish- 
ment;^ in  Hawaii,  Tonga,  and  Samoa,  enclosures  are 
consecrated  for  the  purpose.*  The  Arabs  have  no  asy- 
lum, but  the)-  have  rules  under  which  the  thief  or  mur- 
derer may  secure  the  protection  of  a  member  of  the 
group  which  has  captured  him,  and  thus  prevent  pun- 
ishment. The  tribes  with  weak  chieftainship  have  gen- 
erally no  asylum,  but  to  this  rule,  the  Creeks  are  an  ex- 
ception.* 

No  .savage  tribe  has  had  officials  who  devoted  them- 
selves exclusively  to  the  administration  of  justice;  and 
very  few  have  had  chiefs  who  absolutely  forbade  re- 
taliation in  all  cases.  Perhaps  the  Iroquois  Confedera- 
tion made  as  much  progress  in  that  direction  as  any 
other  .savage  community,"  but  whether  they  did  this  be- 


220  A    HISTORY   OF    MANKIND. 

fore  they  had  been  much  iuOuenced  by  the  instruction 
and  example  of  the  white  men  is  doubtful.  Some  Kaffir 
chiefs  levy  fines  for  their  own  profit  on  murderers,  who, 
after  payment,  are  secure  against  further  punishment," 
and  among  the  Hottentots,  crime  is  sometimes  punished 
under  resolutions  adopted  by  the  j^opular  assembly.® 

Sec.  III.  Despotic  Chiefs. — Though  stable  in  the 
higher  forms  of  the  feminine  clan,  chieftainship  did  not 
become  strong  until  the  rule  of  the  masculine  descent 
had  been  established.  Then  the  chief  could  transmit,  b\^ 
inheritance,  his  office,  his  wealth,  and  his  worship  to  his 
son.  Then  he  could  train  the  young  men  of  his  clan 
with  the  certainty  that  they  would  not  abandon  him 
soon  after  becoming  adults.  Then  he  was  supported  by 
a  body  of  warriors,  who  had  uniformity  of  military  disci- 
pline, community  of  tradition,  interest,  and  faith.  The 
superior  military  strength  of  the  masculine  clan  contrib- 
uted much  to  the  power  of  the  chief 

The  highest  form  of  savage  government  is  despotic 
chieftainship,  resting  on  the  combination  of  tillage,  slavery 
and  nobility,  as  observed  in  Tahiti,  Hawaii,  and  several 
other  Polynesian  tribes.  Similar  conditions  are  observed 
in  portions  of  Africa.  Wherever  the  chief  has  attained 
much  power,  there  the  clan  has  become  weak  or  has 
entirely  disappeared.  The  strong  chief  and  strong  state 
are  hostile  to  the  clan.  The  despotic  chief  exercises 
supreme  political  and  military  power,  and  if  not,  himself, 
the  high  priest  of  the  tribal  religion,  he  has  the  sup- 
port of  the  sacerdotal  profession.  In  many  tribes  he  has 
the  title  and  attributes  of  the  divinity,  and  after  his  death 
he  is  worshiped  as  one  of  the  gods.  Among  the  Micro- 
nesians,  Fijians,  Dahomans,  Ashantees,  Congoese  and 
some  Polynesians,  he  has  ministers  to  execute  his  decrees. 


SEC.    112.   SUCCESSION.  221 

Sec.  112.  Sjiccession. — The  early  rule  that  rank  and 
office,  as  well  as  property,  should  descend  in  the  female 
line  exclusively,  gave  way  with  advancing  culture  to 
male  inheritance.  To  the  chief  exercising  little  authority, 
gaining  little  honor  and  wealth  from  his  office  and  shar- 
ing his  wives  with  others  of  his  village,  it  seemed  quite 
reasonable  and  satisfactory  that  the  eldest  son  of  his 
eldest  sister  should  be  his  heir ;  but  a  different  feeling 
prevailed  in  the  mind  of  the  despotic  chief,  with  a 
devoted  army,  a  considerable  revenue,  a  subservient 
priesthood,  and  wives  who  could  not  be  untrue  to  him 
without  great  peril.  He  would  demand  that  the  succes- 
sion should  go  to  his  son,  who  often  inherited  his  feat- 
ures and  form,  and  sometimes  his  character  and  capacity  • 
who  had  been  trained  in  his  tactics  and  his  policy ;  and 
who,  by  association  in  the  administration,  was  prepared  to 
fill  the  place  of  ruler  when  left  vacant  by  the  death  of  his 
father. 

The  weaker  and  less  stable  the  power  of  the  chief,  the 
less  the  rivalry  for  the  succession.  In  tribes  that  elect, 
the  change  occurs  more  quietly  than  under  the  hereditary 
system,  mainly  because  the  power  is  usually  less,  and  the 
unsuccessful  have  little  to  fear  from  the  successful  compet- 
itor. Despotism  among  savages  is  cruel,  and  a  change  of 
rulers  is  often  accompanied  by  liberal  bloodshed.  Polyg- 
yny provides  a  number  of  sons,  of  whom  the  eldest  may 
have  the  most  experience  in  political  and  military  affairs, 
and  the  most  favor  with  the  warriors  generally,  while  the 
son  of  a  younger  and  favorite  wife,  may  have  the  aid  of 
the  father  and  his  ministers.  In  such  case,  everyone 
foresees  that  the  death  of  the  chief  will  be  the  signal  for 
a  relentless  struggle  which  w  ill  end  with  the  death  of  the 
unsuccessful  aspirants,  and  tlieir  most  active  supporters, 


222  A   HISTORY  OF   MANKIND. 

unless  they  can  succeed  in  escaping  to  some  foreign  ter- 
ritory. The  victor  not  only  destroys  his  rivals,  but  also 
orders  the  execution  of  younger  brothers,  even  infants, 
who  might  in  time  become  formidable.  Such  a  method 
of  procedure  has  not  been  restricted  to  savage  life,  but 
has  been  practiced  extensively  in  such  barbarous  com- 
munities as  Turkey,  Persia,  Morocco,  and  other  Moham- 
medan states. 

The  danger  of  the  assassination  of  the  chief,  by  his 
eldest  son,  led  some  Kaffir  tribes  to  adopt  the  rule  that 
the  succession  must  belong  to  a  son  born  to  the  chief  by 
a  wife  whom  he  had  taken  after  he  had  passed  middle 
life.  In  Uganda,  the  high  chief  is  selected  by  a  council 
of  three  officials,  and  if  they  select  a  minor  who  has 
brothers,  these  are  imprisoned  till  the  end  of  the  regency, 
and  then  the  ruler  orders  the  execution  of  those  of  his 
brothers  whom  he  suspects  of  possessing  the  desire  and 
influence  to  become  dangerous  rivals.'^ 

In  Tahiti,  where  the  king  or  head  chief  had  a  semi- 
divine  character,  which  increased  in  sacredness  with  the 
number  of  his  royal  ancestors,  so  soon  as  a  son  was  born 
to  a  ruler,  the  legal  title  passed  to  the  son,  and  from  that 
time  forward  the  father  exercised  power  only  as  regent.^ 
The  custom  had  its  origin  presumably  in  the  anxiety  to 
secure  succession  in  the  male  line,  at  a  time  when,  on 
account  of  ancient  custom,  many  persons  were  ready  to 
support  the  inheritance  in  the  female  line.  An  analogous 
custom  is  found  in  Ashantee,  where  the  king  does  hom- 
age to  his  newly-born  heir,  who  there  is  the  eldest  son  of 
his  sister.* 

Sec.  113.  Ordeals. — Among  many  of  the  higher  tribes, 
ordeals  managed  by  priests  are  used  for  the  discovery  or 
trial  of  crime.     The   Malagasy  litigants  produce  each  a 


SEC.    113.    ORDEALS.  223 

chicken  to  which  the  priest  gives  portions  of  a  poisoned 
cake,  and  the  one  which  Hves  the  longest  secures  success 
to  its  owner.^  In  Angola,  Wanika,  the  Shir  valley  and 
the  Niger  valley,  the  man  accused  of  crime  must  take  a 
poison  prepared  by  the  priest  and  if  it  proves  fatal  he  is 
guilty.  In  Angola,  innocence  isproved  by  immediately 
vomiting ;  any  other  result  means  death,  but  in  Wanika 
if  he  vomit  up  the  poisoned  dose,  with  much  loss  of 
blood,  he  is  guilty."  The  Wanika  have  various  other 
ordeals.  The  innocent  man  is  expected  to  pass  his  hand 
slowly  four  times  over  red-hot  iron,  or  to  lift  up  a  red-hot 
stone,  without  being  burned ;  or  to  allow  a  red-hot  needle 
to  be  drawn  through  his  lips  without  loss  of  blood.^ 
The  Hawaiians  have  an  ordeal  in  which  a  person,  accused 
of  theft,  holds  his  hands  over  a  dish  of  water  before  a 
priest,  and  the  ruffling  of  the  surface  of  the  fluid  is  proof 
of  guilt.* 

In  some  parts  of  Africa,  when  a  theft  has  been  com- 
mitted and  the  offender  is  unknown,  the  people  of  the 
village  assemble  under  order  of  the  chief,  and  a  priest 
going  about  among  the  multitude,  points  out  the  crim- 
inal, who  is  slain  on  the  spot  or  is  required  to  submit  to 
an  ordeal  and,  if  the  result  be  unfavorable,  he  is  slain  im- 
mediately. 

Among  the  Sea  Dyaks,  the  litigant,  who  can  hold  his 
head  longest  under  water,  wins  his  case.*  The  Singe 
Dyaks  decide  their  civil  suits  by  a  head-hunting  compe- 
tition. The  man  who  slays  some  person  not  belonging 
to  his  native  village,  and  brings  the  fresh  head  to  the 
chief  first,  has  judgment  rendered  in  his  favor.®  An 
augury  used  by  other  Dyak  tribes,  prescribes  that  the 
litigants  shall  each  produce  a  lump  of  salt.  The  pieces 
arc  reduced  to  equal  weight,  and  then  thrown  into  a  pot 


224  A    HISTORY  OF   MANKIND. 

of  water.  He  whose  lump  dissolves  first  loses  his  case. 
Another  method  requires  each  litigant  to  produce  a 
snail.  The  two  snails  placed  side  by  side  on  a  plate  are 
touched  with  lime  juice,  and  the  snail  that  moves  first 
brinfjs  loss  to  its  owner.'  In  all  these  cases  of  ordeal  or 
augury  as  means  of  the  administration  of  justice,  it  is 
presumable  that  the  priest  manages  the  result  in  a  man- 
ner conducive  to  his  personal  interest.  The  ordeals  are 
most  common  in  those  tribes  which  have  despotic  chiefs 
ready  to  confiscate  the  property  or  enslave  the  family  of 
the  guilty. 

Sec.  114.  Property. — One  of  the  chief  characteristics 
of  savagism  is  that  it  has  no  noteworthy  increase  of 
wealth.  In  many  tribes  the  only  kinds  of  property  pre- 
served from  year  to  year  are  huts,  arms,  tools,  furniture, 
clothes,  and  ornaments,  and  these  are  destroyed  with 
their  owner,  or  are  merely  replaced  when  broken  or 
worn  out.  Their  stock  is  not  greater  in  one  generation 
than  in  another.  There  is  no  tilled  land,  no  herd,  no 
accumulated  supply  of  food.  Thus  it  is  that,  after  the 
lapse  of  centuries,  neither  the  tribe  nor  any  family  in  it 
has  made  any  considerable  addition  to  its  possessions. 

Among  the  non-tilling  tribes,  any  supply  of  food,  even 
if  insufficient  for  the  next  meal  of  the  family,  is  insecure 
if  visible  to  friends  or  strangers.  Custom  authorizes 
everybody  to  go  to  the  cooking  pot  and  help  himself 
without  asking  permission.  Not  only  must  the  savage 
share  the  scanty  meal  with  every  other  person  present, 
but  when  he  finds  a  large  stock  of  food  or  kills  a  large 
animal,  whether  wild  or  tame,  he  must  announce  the 
fact  to  his  fellow  villagers,  so  that  they  may  have  their 
portion.  In  time  of  scarcity  he  must  not  eat  a  hare  or 
grouse  without  taking  it  to  his  hut. 


SEC.    114.   PROPERTY.  225 

Such  common  property  in  food  is  a  necessary  conse- 
quence of  the  lawlessness  and  violence  of  low  savagism. 
The  known  possession  of  a  large  stock  of  provisions  and 
the  refusal  to  distribute  it  in  time  of  general  scarcity, 
would  have  invited  attack  and  destruction.  Unlimited 
hospitality,  adopted  under  the  influence  of  fear  and  cau- 
tion, not  of  affection  and  generosity,  enables  the  idle  and 
thriftless,  the  unskillful  and  the  weak,  to  live  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  toilsome,  provident,  strong  and  skilful  hun- 
ter. It  thus  discourages  extensive  cultivation  and  prob- 
ably had  much  influence  in  delaying  the  collection  of 
large  herds  of  ruminants,  long  after  single  animals  had 
been  kept  as  pets. 

As  savage  culture  advanced,  the  idea  of  individual 
property  gained  strength,  and  its  amount  increased. 
The  common  stock  of  acorns,  seeds,  dried  fish,  or 
scorched  grasshoppers,  belonging  to  the  village  was  su- 
perseded by  a  stock  for  each  household ;  and  this  supply, 
until  it  was  put  into  the  cooking  pot  or  brought  out  for 
a  meal,  could  not  be  touched  by  any  person  save  a  mem- 
ber of  the  family. 

The  introduction  of  tillage  gave  a  basis  for  individual 
title  in  land,  and  for  the  accumulation  of  tools,  food,  and 
weapons,  and  made  a  demand  for  law  to  protect  prop- 
erty. This  ownership  and  law  contributed  much  and 
were  indispensable  to  the  advance  of  culture.  Without 
their  help,  our  race  would  have  remained  savage  forever. 

Generally  the  non-tilling  savages  have  no  conception 
of  an  individual  right  in  land,  but  in  portions  of  Aus- 
tralia, special  families  have  the  exclusive  privilege  of  tak- 
ing game  in  certain  districts ;  and  similar  claims  to  the 
exclusive  right  of  hunting  are  recognized  in  Unyoro, 
where  tillage  is  the  main  dependence  of  the  people.  In 
15 


226  A    HISTORY    OF    MANKIND. 

some  of  the  tilling  tribes,  there  is  an  individual  or  family 
title  to  the  tract  under  cultivation.  Among  the  Red- 
men,  the  Todas,^  the  Batta  Malays,^  and  some  Polyne- 
sians, the  village  has  a  common  field,  on  which  every  fam- 
ily has  its  patch  which  is  inalienable  and  descends  from 
generation  to  generation,  becoming  the  property  of  the 
community  when  the  family  dies  out,  or  emigrates.  In 
some  tribes  of  Africa  and  Hindostan,  the  family  or  in- 
dividual has  nothing  but  a  tenancy  for  a  year ;  and  at 
the  end  of  the  crop  season,  the  chief  or  the  village  as- 
sembly may  make  a  new  distribution  of  the  land. 

The  tilling  tribes,  organized  in  feminine  clans,  give  to 
the  wife  the  ownership  of  the  dwelling  and  the  cultivated 
land ;  and  among  the  Moquis,  the  house,  the  fields,  the 
trees,  the  crops,  and  the  sheep  belong  to  her,  while  her 
husband  claims  the  horses  and  mules,^ 

In  New  Zealand,  property  stolen  and  concealed  or 
withheld  from  the  owner  for  three  days  belongs  to  the 
thief;  and  in  that  group,  as  well  as  in  the  Marquesas  Is- 
lands/ public  opinion  justifies  neighbors  in  taking  every- 
thing portable  from  a  person  to  whom  some  great  disas- 
ter has  happened.  He  is  considered  hateful  to  the  gods, 
who  delight  in  seeing  men  complete  the  work  com- 
menced by  the  supernatural  powers.  Among  the  Sa- 
moans  and  Tongans,  the  unlucky  man  may  be  murdered, 
after  he  has  been  plundered,  without  offense  to  public 
opinion.^ 

Sec.  115.  Slavery. — Before  the  introduction  of  tillage 
there  was  no  profitable  occupation  for  slaves  and  there- 
fore little  slavery.  Agriculture  is  the  foundation  of 
human  bondage.  All  the  tribes  which  have  much  tilled 
ground  have  many  slaves,  and  conversely  those  which 
have  many  slaves  have  much  cultivation.     The  posses- 


SEC.    115.    SLAVERY.  112^ 

sion  of  numerous  bondmen  supplied  a  large  stock  of 
food,  gave  the  freemen  leisure  to  devote  themselves  to 
military  discipline,  compelled  them  to  keep  in  readiness 
to  defend  their  possessions  and  led  them  to  increase  the 
strength  of  their  political  organization. 

Although  many  of  the  women  are  held  by  the  men  in 
a  condition  of  humiliating  subjection,  there  is  no  proper 
slavery  among  the  Australians,  Bushmen,  Lower  Califor- 
nians,  Fuegians  and  Andamanese.  The  Redmen  east  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains  have  few  slaves.  Their  tillage  is 
scanty  and  nearly  all  its  worV:  is  done  by  the  women. 
In  many  African  tribes  slavery  is  a  prominent  institution, 
but  its  highest  development  in  savagism  is  found  in 
Tahiti,  Hawaii  and  Tonga,  where  it  is  cherished  and  for- 
tified by  extensive  agriculture,  hereditary  nobility,  heredi- 
tary priesthood,  and  despotic  chieftainship. 

In  many  slave-holding  savage  countries,  the  propor- 
tion of  slaves  in  the  total  population  does  not  exceed 
one-fifth,  but  in  Mandingo,  it  is  three-fourths,  in  Yoruba 
four-fifths,^  and  in  Bondu  nine-tenths. ■^  There  is  no 
regular  market  for  slaves  in  savagism,  unless  men  in  a 
higher  culturestep  have  made  a  demand  for  them. 
In  Uganda,  and  other  African  tribes,'^  if  a  chief  wants 
slaves  and  other  plunder,  while  afraid  to  attack  any 
neighboring  tribe,  he  provokes  one  of  his  own  provinces 
to  rebellion  and  then  enslaves  its  inhabitants  and  appro- 
priates their  herds. 

Slaves  are  not  allowed  to  decorate  themselves  m  fash- 
ionable style.  They  dare  not  flatten  their  heads  in  the 
regions  where  head  flattening  is  customary  among  the 
freemen ;  nor  where  tattoo  is  practiced,  must  they  be 
tattooed  unless  it  be  with  a  simple  mark  known  as  that  of 
their  master,  so  that  if  they  escape  they  may  be  recog- 


22S  A   HISTORY   OF   MANKIND. 

nized;    nor    dare   they   paint    themselves    in    the   styles 
adopted  by  the  warriors. 

In  some  tribes  a  man  whose  person  or  property  has 
been  seriously  injured  by  a  slave  is  entitled  to  the  slave 
in  compensation,  and  the  slave  may  do  an  injury  for  the 
sake  of  a  change  of  masters.  Among  the  Foolahs  more 
than  one  desirable  master  has  lost  both  his  ears.*  One 
form  of  virtue  is  its  own  punishment. 

Sec.  1 1 6.  Nobility. — Hereditary  nobility,  in  savagism, 
implies  a  compact  tribal  organization  and  powerful  chief- 
tainship. It  cannot  flourish  under  the  exogamous  clan, 
and  it  is  especially  hostile  to  the  feminine  clan.  Its 
origin  in  war  and  its  devotion  to  war  as  its  chief  occupa- 
tion, require  a  more  powerful  military  organization  than 
can  be  obtained  in  the  lowest  phases  of  social  and  politi- 
cal development.  Its  predominant  spirit  is  militant.  It 
must  always  be  ready  to  fight  to  maintain  its  superior 
political  privileges,  to  keep  its  slaves  in  subjection,  to 
defend  its  property,  to  acquire  more  slaves  and  to  pro- 
tect the  power,  credit  and  territory  of  the  tribe. 

The  increasing  accumulation  of  property  in  the  high- 
est phases  of  savagism  is  intimately  associated  with  polit- 
ical inequality  and  class  privilege.  When  a  hereditary 
aristocracy  made  its  appearance,  the  old  system  of 
unlimited  hospitality  came  to  an  end.  The  noble  could 
not  treat  his  slaves  as  his  social  equals  or  give  them  free 
access  to  his  stores.  He  must  accumulate  stocks  of  pro- 
visions with  which  to  supply  them  at  all  seasons  of  the 
year.  His  possession  of  slaves  made  it  necessary  that 
he  should  own  large  tracts  of  land,  to  which  their  toil 
gave  value ;  and  law  and  order  came  with  the  increase  of 
wealth. 

Counting  the  chiefs  and  slaves,  there  were  four  heredi- 


SEC.    117.    POLITICAL    DEVELOPMENT.  229 

tary  ranks  in  Tahiti  and  Hawaii,  six  in  Ashantee,  and  in 
most  of  the  Polynesian  groups.*  In  Tonga,  the  nobles 
owned  all  the  land,  to  which  the  commoners  as  their 
clients,  were  attached.  In  Hawaii,  the  rabble  were  not 
attached  to  the  soil,  but  most  of  them  were  clients  of  a 
noble  to  whose  protection  they  were  entitled  and  whom 
they  were  bound  to  assist  and  defend.^ 

The  Micronesians  generally  are  divided  into  high  no- 
bles, low  nobles,  commoners  and  slaves.  The  commoners 
till  the  soil,  build  boats,  make  nets,  carry  loads  and  cook. 
They  cannot  ha\"e  a  religious  consecration  to  marriage, 
nor  own  land,  nor  trade  with  people  from  another  island, 
nor  go  out  to  sea  in  boats,  nor  use  seines  or  fish  hooks, 
nor  catch  any  fish  save  eels.  They  have  no  souls,  no 
future  life,  nor  share  in  the  worship  and  favor  of  the  gods. 
When  a  noble  passes  near  them,  they  must  step  out  of 
the  way  and  squat  down,  and  in  speaking  to  him  they 
must  use  peculiar  terms  implying  a  recognition  of  his 
superior  rank.^ 

Polynesian  and  Micronesian  customs  do  not  permit 
marriage  across  the  lines  of  hereditary  rank.  A  noble 
cannot  marry  a  commoner,  nor  can  a  slave  woman  become 
the  wife  of  a  commoner.  Among  savages  as  well  as 
among  barbarians  and  civilized  people,  it  is  a  more  serious 
offense  in  a  woman  than  in  a  man  to  have  a  love  affair 
with  a  person  of  inferior  rank. 

In  Ashango,  every  commoner  must  be  under  the  pro- 
tection of  a  noble,  to  save  him  from  the  danger  of 
enslavement.*  When  his  patron  dies  without  a  male  heir, 
the  client  secures  a  new  defender  by  putting  his  hand  on 
the  head  of  another  noble. 

Sec.  117.  Political  Development. — In  our  examination 
of  savapc  polity,  we   have    found    man)-  indications   of 


230  A    HISTORY    OF    MANKIND. 

slow  and  regular  development  from  extremely  rude 
forms.  The  lowest  government  known  to  us  is  that  of 
the  headless  group,  which  has  no  chief,  no  political  as- 
sembly, and  no  political  function  save  that  of  defending 
its  members,  retaliation  for  wrongs  done  being  a  promi- 
nent feature  in  the  system  of  defense.  This  group  is 
found  only  among  the  non-tilling  savages,  such  as  the 
Australians. 

A  step  higher  is  the  group  with  unstable  headship,  in 
which  there  are  elective  chiefs  with  a  brief  tenure  of  of- 
fice, and  with  very  little  power.  A  grade  above  this  is 
the  condition  of  stable  chieftainship,  such  as  we  find 
among  the  feminine  clan  tribes  in  tilling  culture,  such  as 
the  Iroquois  and  Creeks.  The  chiefs  though  holding 
office  practically  for  life,  have  little  power.  In  tribes 
consisting  of  masculine  clans,  the  power  of  the  chief  in- 
creases until  it  has  the  support  of  slavery  and  nobility, 
and  then  becomes  despotic.  Such  governments  we  find 
in  tropical  Polynesia  and  in  portions  of  Africa.  With 
despotic  chieftainship,  the  influence  of  the  clan  dimin- 
ishes and  retaliation  is  restricted.  With  the  growth  of 
slavery  and  nobility,  the  ideas  of  property  rights  in  land 
and  in  stocks  of  provisions,  obtain  clearer  recognition. 
The  establishment  of  permanent  chieftainship,  of  the 
masculine  clan,  of  slavery,  of  nobility,  and  of  despotic 
government,  each  gave  a  decided  stimulus  to  the  military 
spirit,  and  each  was  the  basis  of  some  notable  improve- 
ment in  military  discipline.  Every  department  of  savage 
polity  abounds  with  the  traces  of  growth. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

MILITARY   SYSTEM. 

Section  ii8.  IVar. — The  ancient  Greeks  had  a  prov- 
erb that  "  war  is  the  natural  state  of  man,"  and  their 
experience  justified  the  assertion,  but  ours  leads  us  to 
add  the  condition  "  in  the  lower  culturesteps."  In  the 
advanced  civilization  of  our  day,  peace  has  become  the 
rule,  and  we  can  clearly  see  that  industrialism,  the  nat- 
ural ally  of  peace  and  enemy  of  war,  is  rapidly  advanc- 
in<r  to  a  controUincj  influence  in  human  life. 

The  only  savages  who  take  no  pleasure  in  war,  and  in- 
deed never  engage  in  it,  are  some  few  tribes  in  the  polar 
regions,  and  in  the  hills  of  Hindostan.  The  Todas,  the 
Greenlanders,  and  the  Eskimos,  have  no  weapons  to  be 
used  against  men,  and  when  war  was  first  described  to 
the  people  on  the  shores  of  Baffin's  Bay,  they  could  not 
understand  why  it  should  exist. 

The  feeling  of  kindness,  the  sense  of  duty  to  all  men, 
the  horror  at  the  outrages  accompanying  war,  the  inter- 
ests of  industry  and  comfort,  and  written  treaties  keeping 
the  precise  phraseology  of  international  promises  before 
the  eyes,  are  great  safeguards  of  peace  in  advanced  cul- 
ture and  are  lacking  in  its  lower  stages.  Among  sav- 
ages generally  it  is  not  only  permissible  but  honorable 
to  plunder  or  to  slay  every  .stranger,  that  is,  every  per- 
son outside  of  one's  own  group,  clan,  or  tribe.     Though 

(23  0 


232  A    HISTORY    OF    MANKIND. 

war  does  not  take  up  so  much  of  the  man's  time  as  the 
chase  or  the  search  for  food,  he  regards  it  as  his  princi- 
pal occupation/  without  which  Hfe  would  not  be  worth 
living.'  The  hostility  of  tribe  against  tribe  is  handed 
down  from  generation  to  generation,  with  traditions  of 
triumphs  to  be  rivaled  and  of  humiliations  to  be  avenged. 

The  lower  the  culturestep,  the  smaller  the  political 
groups,  and  the  nearer  the  hostile  communities  to  one 
another,  the  larger  is  the  proportion  of  warriors  to  the 
whole  pojDulation,  the  more  continuous  the  warfare,  the 
greater  the  insecurity  of  life,  and  the  larger  the  areas  oc- 
cupied by  dangerous  frontiers. 

The  first  chiefs  were  those  accepted  as  leaders  in  mili- 
tary movements.  Their  leadership  began  and  ended 
with  war  or  with  some  campaign,  and  was  limited  to 
matters  connected  with  it  directly.  The  power  was  ad- 
visory rather  than  mandatory  ;  there  was  no  enforcement 
of  commands  among  warriors,  but  as  the  groups  became 
larger,  and  warfare  more  systematic,  the  need  of  disci- 
pline was  felt  keenly  and  the  authority  of  the  chief  in- 
creased, until  it  became  mandatory,  permanent,  political, 
and  despotic.  Out  of  war  grew  governments.  The  first 
assemblies  for  the  discussion  of  public  affairs,  like  the 
first  chiefs,  had  a  military  origin.  The  warriors  when 
about  to  engage  in  expeditions  of  great  importance  to 
the  clan  or  tribe,  met  to  consult  about  the  plan  of  action. 
This  was  a  natural  mode  of  procedure  when  the  chiefs 
were  leaders  rather  than  commanders.  The  warriors 
Avho  were  to  do  the  fighting  were  called  upon  to  pledge 
themselves  to  hearty  cooperation  and  to  share  the  re- 
sponsibility of  the  result. 

When  in  later  times  assemblies  were  held  for  purely 
political  purposes,  ancient  custom  required  the  warriors 


SEC.    119.    BATTLE.  233 

to  appear  with  their  weapons,  and  decorated  as  for  battle. 
The  speaker  held  his  spear  or  other  weapon  as  if  prepared 
for  immediate  action,  and  in  his  gestures  he  brandished  it, 
while  the  auditory  applauded  him  by  rattling  with  their 
spears  or  clubs  on  their  shields,  as  well  as  by  shouts,  in 
a  manner  that  would  never  have  been  adopted  originally 
by  any  save  a  military  gathering. 

Sec.  119.  Battle. — In  the  battles  of  low  savagism,  the 
warriors  fight  each  for  himself  and  by  himself,  so  that 
the  conflict  is  not  a  meeting  of  two  compact  bodies  each 
guided  by  a  single  commander,  but  an  irregular  skirmish 
in  which  every  warrior  selects  his  own  position,  advances 
or  retreats  as  suits  himself,  and  usually  keeps  at  a  con- 
siderable distance  from  his  friends  as  well  as  his  enemies. 

With  paint  and  grimaces  and  yells  he  makes  himself 
as  hideous  as  possible ;  and  tries  to  frighten  his  oppo- 
nents by  exhibiting  his  trophies  and  boasting  of  his  tri- 
umphs in  former  contests.  The  skillful  warrior  will  often 
stand  out  boldly  at  a  distance  of  fifty  yards  from  an 
enemy  who  throws  spears  and  shoots  arrows,  each  of 
which  is  coolly  turned  from  its  course,  or  caught  in  the 
hand  as  it  passes. 

Among  the  Australians  the  throwing  and  dodging  of 
spears  would  often  continue  for  several  hours  before  any- 
one was  hurt.  The  infliction  of  the  first  serious  wound 
was  considered  a  victory  and  was  followed  by  a  great 
outcry  and  the  sudden  flight  of  the  defeated  party,  leav- 
ing the  wounded  man  to  be  beaten,  slain,  and  despoiled 
of  his  kidney  fat  with  which  the  conquerors  rubbed 
themselves.  All  male  captives  were  slain ;  the  women 
were  kept  as  wives  of  the  successful  warriors.' 

The  Australians  and  Polynesians  were  so  much  afraid 
in  the  dark  of  malignant  spirits,  that  they  rarely  vent- 


234  A    HISTORY   OF    MANKIND. 

ured  to  make  night  attacks,  but  he  who  sneaked  into  a 
hostile  camp  in  the  darkness  and  succeeded  in  despatch- 
ing a  woman  or  child  was  regarded  as  a  model  of  cour- 
age.^ The  glory  of  the  savage  consists  in  killing  a 
member  of  a  hostile  village  or  tribe,  without  regard  to 
age  or  sex  of  the  victim  or  the  method  of  the  exploit. 

In  several  Polynesian  groups,  battle  orators  devoted 
themselves  to  the  encouragement  of  the  warriors  on 
their  side.  One  of  these  howled  to  his  men,  "  Rush 
on  them  like  an  ocean  wave,  like  a  breaker  running  over 
a  reef  Show  your  power,  your  fury,  the  fury  of  a  rag- 
ing wild  dog,  till  their  lines  scatter  and  they  flee  like  the 
sea  at  ebb  tide."*  The  priests  were  also  warriors,  and  it 
was  expected  that  the  younger  priests  should  be  among 
the  boldest  and  most  active  in  battle. 

The  women  go  to  the  battle-field  to  add  to  the  show 
of  strength,  to  help  in  making  a  fearful  clamor,  to  carry 
weapons  and  supplies,  to  watch  the  hostile  movements, 
to  carry  off  or  aid  wounded  friends,  to  despatch  and 
mutilate  wounded  enemies,  and  to  participate  in  the 
fight  under  favorable  circumstances.  Dahomey*  and 
Uganda*  have  regiments  of  women  soldiers,  armed  and 
disciplined  like  men,  and  as  efficient  as  the  other  sex. 

"  The  boldness  with  which  the  European  exposes 
himself  in  the  open  field  seems  stupid  to  the  Indian. 
He  seeks  his  fame  in  exploits,  combining  cunning,  speed, 
and  boldness  for  the  purpose  of  injuring  his  enemy  with 
little  danger  to  himself  He  trusts  mainly  to  the  first  as- 
sault, and  when  that  does  not  promise  him  complete 
success,  flight  is  creditable.  An  Indian  proverb  says,  *  It 
is  the  ambition  of  the  warrior  to  sneak  about  the  enemy 
like  a  fox,  to  attack  him  like  a  tiger  and  to  fly  away  like 
a  bird.' " ' 


SEC.    119.    BATTLE.  235 

With  such  ideas,  the  Redmen  pride  themselves  on 
tricks  considered  disgraceful  among  white  men.  On  one 
occasion,  a  Dakota  stole  into  a  Pawnee  village  at  night, 
got  into  a  large  hut  by  descending  the  chimney,  with  his 
knife  slew  a  number  of  the  sleeping  inmates  before  any 
alarm  was  given,  and  when  discovered,  shouted  his  war- 
cry  and  fled  in  the  darkness.  His  tribe  honored  him 
greatly  for  this  exploit.  Worse  than  this  conduct  was 
that  of  seven  Delawares  who  entered  the  village  of  an- 
other tribe  as  pretended  friends,  and  after  accepting  its 
hospitality  suddenly  raised  the  war-cry,  attacked  their 
hosts  and  fled  with  their  scalps  before  efficient  resistance 
could  be  made.' 

When  organizing  a  hostile  excursion,  most  North 
American  and  some  other  tribes  prepare  themselves  by 
a  war  dance  to  stimulate  themselves  to  fury  for  their 
bloody  work,  and  sometimes  also  to  test  their  powers  of 
endurance,*  and  prove  their  fitness  for  long  and  exhaust- 
ing marches.  They  dress  themselves  in  their  war  paint, 
exhibit  their  scalps  and  other  trophies,  brandish  their 
weapons,  howl  like  demons,  chant  their  war  songs,  pre- 
dict what  wonders  they  will  do,  and  tell  all  the  evil  they 
know  or  can  imagine  of  the  enemy.  Of  all  the  war 
dances,  that  of  the  Maoris  is  the  most  impressive  and  the  • 
most  hideous.  The  warriors  fix  their  eyes  with  a  fero- 
cious glare,  thrust  out  their  tongues  as  an  expression  of 
defiance,  leap  about  with  concerted  and  violent  jumps, 
and  shriek  loudly,  the  combined  action  having  an  effect 
that  gives  a  contagious  frenzy  to  every  warrior  of  the 
tribe,  and  that  fills  others  with  horror.  In  the  dance  the 
participants  are  a  compact  body  and  their  movements 
uniform  ;  but  on  the  battle-field  they  scatter  and  each 
fights  by  himself.     The  confidence,  with  which  they  are 


2^6  A    HISTORY   OF   MANKIND. 

filled  by  their  preparatory  ca2:)ers,  soon  evaporates  if  the 
luck  of  the  contest  turns  against  them,  and  they  can 
show  as  much  energy  in  running  from  danger  as  in 
dancing.  But  flight  does  not  disgrace  a  savage.  It  is 
not  until  men  learn  to  fight  in  compact  masses  that  dis- 
cipline requires  them  to  stand  firmly  while  men  continu- 
ally fall  near  them,  under  the  hostile  missiles. 

Those  tribes  which  built  large  boats,  fought  on  water 
as  well  as  on  land.  In  some  of  the  Polynesian  groups, 
a  war  canoe  would  hold  from  sixty  to  a  hundred  men, 
and  small  as  were  their  islands,  thousands  of  combatants 
would  meet  in  a  naval  battle,  and  with  greater  loss  of 
life  than  on  land,  for  at  sea  when  a  boat  was  disabled,  its 
inmates  were  all  slaughtered.  The  Hawaiian  canoes  car- 
ried standards  by  which  they  could  be  recognized  at  a 
distance. 

Sec.  1 20.  Trophies. — Trophies  taken  in  the  chase  and 
in  war  have  been  prized  in  all  culturesteps.  Among 
those  of  the  hunter  are  the  tail  of  the  fox,  the  horns  of 
the  antelope,  deer,  and  elk,  and  the  skins  of  the  lion,  ti- 
ger, leopard,  and  bear.  As  evidences  of  success  in  war, 
heads  were  exhibited  by  the  Egyptains  and  Jews  of  an- 
tiquity,^ and  by  the  Dyaks  and  Paladans  of  Borneo,  the 
Mundrucus,  the  Nagas,  the  Abipones,  the  Maoris,  and 
the  Samoans  of  modern  times ;  skulls  by  the  Congoese, 
Ashantees,  Dahomans,  Kukis,  Botocudos,  Marquesans, 
Batta  Malays,  and  some  Melanesians  ;  scalps  by  the  Da- 
homans, many  North  American  tribes,  the  Nagas  and 
ancient  Scythians ;  jawbones  by  the  Tahitians,  Vatdans, 
and  some  tribes  of  New  Guinea;  hands  by  the  Khonds; 
forefingers,  thumbs,  and  big  toes  by  various  tribes  ;  teeth 
by  the  Kingsmill  Islanders ;  and  other  parts  by  the 
Gallas,  Abyssinians  and  Apaches. 


SEC.    12  T.    FORTIFICATIONS.  23/ 

In  many  tribes  a  trophy  indicating  that  the  possessor 
has  killed  a  human  being  is  indispensable  to  an  honor- 
able social  or  political  position.  Without  it  the  man 
cannot  get  a  wife,  wear  the  decoration  of  a  warrior,  or 
appear  in  the  public  assembly. 

Sec.  121.  Fortifications. — Fortifications  make  their  first 
appearance  in  tilling  culture.  They  are  not  found  in 
Australia,  Tasmania,  or  Lower  California.  The  most 
numerous  and  extensive  class  of  savage  fortifications  are 
those  of  the  Mound-Builders,  erected  several  centuries 
since  in  the  United  States  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
Next  to  these  come  the  pile  villages  of  the  Swiss  lake 
dwellers.  After  these  are  the  villages  of  the  Maoris  and 
Iroquois  surrounded  Avith  palisades  and  trenches.  The 
Tahitians,  Haw^iians,  Fijians,  and  many  African  tribes 
have  carefully  constructed  fortifications. 

The  remains  of  the  fortifications  of  the  Mound-Build- 
ers (as  they  have  been  called),  in  the  Mississippi  basin, 
are  numerous,  and  vary  in  the  areas  inclosed,  from 
twenty  to  two  hundred  acres.  In  most  cases,  the  sites 
are  on  hills  near  fertile  valleys  with  springs  or  streams 
in  the  near  vicinity.  They  are  usually  of  earth,  rarely 
of  rough  stone,  and  when  first  known  to  white  men,  the 
earth  walls  were  so  broad  and  flat  that  a  man  might 
walk  over  them  without  suspecting  that  he  w^as  stepping 
on  a  work  of  art.  If  on  the  top  of  a  small  hill,  the  wall 
follows  its  shapes  ;  if  the  fortification  be  on  a  large  level 
.space,  it  may  have  the  form  of  circle,  square,  octagon,  or 
long  parallelogram. 

Fort  Ancient,  near  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Tittle 
Miami  River,  thirty-three  miles  from  Cincinnati,  is  on  a 
hill  two  hundred  and  thirty  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
stream.     An  area  of  one  hundred  acres,  with  a  shape  re- 


238  A    HISTORY   OF   MANKIND. 

sembling  that  of  an  hour-glass,  is  enclosed  by  five  miles 
of  earthen  wall,  which  follows  the  brow  of  the  hill.  The 
walls  are  in  places  twenty  feet  high,  and  opposite  the  gate- 
ways on  the  inside  are  mounds  on  which  are  piles  of 
stones  brought  up  from  the  river  bed,  presumably  to  be 
used  in  throwing  at  the  enemies.  A  spring  and  reser- 
voirs inside  of  the  fort  furnish  an  unfailing  supply  of 
water. 

Near  Portsmouth,  Ohio,  a  connected  series  of  defens- 
ive structures  extends  eight  miles  along  the  bank  of  the 
river  on  both  sides.  An  enclosure  eight  hundred  feet 
square,  two  parallel  walls  two  thousand  one  hundred  feet 
long,  four  concentric  circles  intersected  by  four  broad 
avenues,  a  large  truncated  cone  mound,  and  an  avenue 
a  mile  and  a  half  long  between  walls,  from  the  mound  to 
the  river,  are  among  the  features  of  these  ruins. 

Most  of  the  works  of  the  Mound-Builders  are  found 
not  in  the  prairie  regions,  but  in  the  forest  where  artifi- 
cial elevations  w^ere  needed  for  giving  signals.  A  line  of 
signal  mounds  extends  for  a  hundred  miles  along  the 
Scioto  valley,  and  a  similar  line  in  the  valley  of  the 
Miami  gave   facilities  for  sending  news  sixty  miles. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  of  these  structures,  twelve 
miles  west  of  Chillicothe,  Ohio,  on  the  summit  of  a  hill 
four  hundred  feet  above  the  valley  of  Paint  creek,  en- 
closes an  area  of  one  hundred  and  forty  acres  including 
a  lakelet  of  two  acres.  The  material  of  the  walls  is 
rough  stone,  which  was  exidently  laid  up  with  care 
though  most  of  it  has  now  tumbled  over.  There  v/ere 
five  gateways,  near  which  the  walls  were  higher  and 
wider  than  elsewhere.  Inside  of  the  enclosure  were  two 
stone  mounds  on  which  hot  fires  had  been  maintained, 
as  the  stones  now  show  the  influence  of  intense  heat. 


SEC.    122.    I\ITL\TION.  239 

At  many  places  there  are  remains  of  works  com- 
menced and  never  completed.  In  Wayne  Township, 
Butler  County,  Ohio,  a  series  of  eleven  hillocks  or  small 
mounds  indicates  the  outline  of  a  circular  wall  that  was 
not  finished.  At  Alexandersville,  Ohio,  are  the  remains 
of  three  enclosures  abandoned  before  completion. 

Sec.  122.  Initiation. — The  ceremonies  observed  by 
many  tribes  at  initiation  into  the  ranks  of  men  and  war- 
riors, and  into  the  office  of  chief,  may  be  considered  part 
of  their  military  system.  There  is  a  widely  prevalent 
custom  that  before  assuming  the  arms  and  claiming  the 
rights  that  go  with  their  use,  the  young  man  must  prove 
his  fortitude  by  passing  creditably  through  a  very  pain- 
ful probation.  Until  he  has  done  so,  he  cannot  join  a 
military  expedition,  participate  in  a  deliberative  assem- 
bly, take  a  wife,  acquire  property,  or  become  a  chief  or 
priest. 

The  most  severe  probation  of  this  kind  known  to  us, 
or  the  one  most  accurately  described  by  a  trustworthy 
witness,  is  that  of  the  Mandans,  and  the  initiations  of  the 
Chcyennes,  Dakotas,  Chippeways,  Minitarees,  Arickarees, 
Poncas,  Hidatsas  or  Gros  Ventres,  and  Blackfeet,  are 
similar ;  as  are  presumably  those  of  many  if  not  most 
tribes  of  the  Redmen  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
George  Catlin  is  the  only  author  who  claims  to  have 
witnessed  these  ceremonies  in  all  their  important  stages, 
and  who  has  given  us  a  precise  account  of  them.'  At 
the  time  he  was  a  favored  guest  of  the  Mandans,  and  he 
was  allowed  to  sec  what  had  been  hidden  from  other 
white  men  who  had  dwelt  in  the  village  for  ten  years  or 
more.  He  was  invited  to  be  present  at  the  ecclesiastical 
festival  in  tlie  spring  of  the  year  1830.  At  sunrise,  the 
sacred  hut  in   which  the  ceremony  began  was  opened, 


240  A    HISTORY    OF    MANKIND. 

and  the  aspirants,  about  fifty  in  number,  entered.  Some 
warriors  and  a  few  chiefs  and  priests,  Mr.  Catlin  and 
three  white  friends  admitted  at  his  request,  were  present. 
Each  of  the  nude  aspirants  carried  his  bow,  quiver,  and 
shield,  which  he  hung  on  the  wall  over  the  place  where 
he  sat  down.  A  priest  sitting  near  a  fire  in  the  middle 
of  the  hut  smoked  a  sacred  pipe  and  occasionally  ad- 
dressed prayers  to  the  spirits  or  Great  Spirit  to  favor  his 
tribe. 

Thus  three  days  passed.  The  aspirants  did  not  leave 
the  hut,  nor  eat,  nor  drink  nor  sleep.  On  the  fourth 
day,  in  the  morning  two  priests  entered.  One,  whose 
face  was  covered  by  a  mask,  carried  a  double-edge  knife 
with  edges  hacked,  so  that  it  would  make  a  painful  cut. 
The  other,  unmasked,  had  a  package  of  wooden  skewers, 
five  inches  long  nearly  half  an  inch  thick  and  pointed  at 
both  ends. 

The  priest  with  the  skewers  pinched  the  arm  above 
the  elbow  of  one  of  the  aspirants,  and  while  he  held  it, 
the  masked  priest  thrust  the  knife  through  making  a  hole 
in  which  he  put  a  skewer,  over  which  the  flesh  at  the 
thickest  was  perhaps  half  an  inch  deep.  This  operation 
was  repeated  below  the  elbow,  and  in  the  other  arm,  and 
in  both  legs  above  and  below  the  knee,  so  that  the  young 
man  had  eight  skewers  in  his  flesh.  A  similar  skewer 
was  inserted  in  each  breast  or  each  shoulder,  every 
aspirant  indicating  by  a  sign  whether  he  preferred  to 
have  them  before  or  behind.  This  cutting  and  skewer- 
ing was  endured  by  all  without  a  groan  and  by  most  of 
them  with  smiles  of  triumph. 

The  skewers  being  in  place,  the  aspirant's  shield  was 
attached  to  the  upper  one  on  his  left  arm,  and  a  buffalo 
skull,  weighing  perhaps  eight  pounds,^   to  each  of  the 


SEC.    122.    INITIATION.  24! 

eight  skewers  on  his  arms  and  legs.  By  ropes  passing 
over  poles  in  the  roof  of  the  hut,  and  fastened  to  the 
breast  or  shoulder  skewers,  he  was  then  hoisted  until  his 
feet  were  three  or  four  feet  above  the  ground,  and  the 
buffalo  skulls  swung  clear.  A  man  with  a  pole  pushed 
the  suspended  aspirant  in  such  a  manner  as  to  make  him 
turn  around  and  the  sufferer  broke  his  silence  by  heart- 
rending prayers  to  the  Great  Spirit  to  aid  him  on  his 
trial.  All  the  aspirants  used  the  same  form  of  prayer, 
indicating  that  they  had  been  taught  what  to  say.  After 
ten  or  twenty  minutes  of  swinging  round,  fainting  gave 
relief,  whereupon  the  body  was  lowered  to  the  ground 
and  left  to  itself  When  the  aspirant  recovered  conscious- 
ness, he  rose,  and  walked  to  one  side  where  he  sat  down 
in  front  of  the  masked  priest.  After  holding  up  the  little 
finger  of  his  left  hand,  as  a  thank-offering  to  the  Great 
Spirit  for  enabling  him  to  endure  his  trial,  he  laid  it  on  a 
buffalo  skull.  The  masked  priest  by  a  blow  of  a  hatchet 
cut  off  the  finger.  The  sacrifice  of  one  finger  was  com- 
pulsory ;  on  rare  occasions  an  aspirant,  to  show  superior 
endurance,  would  offer  up  also  the  forefinger  of  the  same 
hand.  The  wounds  thus  inflicted,  though  not  bandaged 
or  otherwise  treated,  were  not  followed  by  inflammation 
nor  by  much  bleeding. 

After  six  or  eight  young  men  had  submitted  to  the 
hoisting  and  finger  sacrifice,  they  were  taken  in  a  party 
out  of  the  hut,  and  each  with  his  four  buffalo  skulls 
fastened  to  his  leg  skewers,  and  with  a  friend  at  each 
arm  to  help  him  along,  ran  round  a  prescribed  circuit 
and  kept  running  until  he  fainted  or  until  all  the  skewers 
tore  out.  If  he  fainted,  some  friends  dragged  him  round 
face  downwards,  while  other  friends  jumped  on  the  skulls 
to  make  the  skewers  tear  through  the  flesh.  So  soon  as 
iG 


^4^  A   HISTORY   OF    MANKIND. 

all  had  torn  out,  the  young  man,  abandoned  by  his 
friends,  went  to  the  hut  of  his  parents  where  he  could 
hide  himself  from  the  public  gaze,  and  obtain  nourish- 
ment and  sympathetic  attendance. 

Those  who  hung  longest  without  fainting,  who  ran 
longest  dragging  the  skulls,  and  who  recovered  soonest 
after  fainting,  were  considered  the  most  promising  war- 
riors. It  was  necessary  that  the  flesh  over  the  skewers 
should  tear  out.  Cutting  out  would  not  do.  Catlin 
heard  of  one  aspirant  who  died  in  the  ordeal.  He  does 
not  say  distinctly,  but  he  implies,  that  he  had  never  seen 
one,  or  heard  of  one,  whose  fortitude  failed  him  in  the 
trial. 

The  torture  at  the  initiation  of  the  Cheyenne  aspirant 
for  admission  to  the  rank  of  warrior  has  been  described 
by  Col.  R.  S.  Dodge.  The  young  man  is  taken  out  of 
the  camp  by  his  nearest  warrior  relative  who  makes  two 
vertical  incisions  three  inches  long  and  two  inches  apart 
in  the  muscles  of  the  breast,  and  then  lifts  the  intervening 
strip  from  the  bone,  so  that  a  hair  rope  three-quarters  of 
an  inch  thick  can  be  passed  under  the  flesh.  The  rope 
is  tied  to  a  strong  pole  twenty  feet  from  the  ground,  so 
that  the  young  man  can  run  about  twelve  feet  without 
stretching  the  rope ;  and  his  trial  is  to  throw  his  weight 
against  the  rope  in  such  a  manner  as  to  break  through 
those  two  strips  of  his  pectoral  muscles.  He  has  no 
help,  no  company,  no  food,  no  drink,  no  bed,  and  if  he  is 
to  be  an  honored  warrior  there  he  must  stay  until  he 
tears  out  that  stubborn  flesh,  perhaps  with  the  help  of 
partial  mortification.  If  he  prefers,  he  may  have  the 
cuts  made  in  his  shoulders,  and  in  that  case  instead  of 
being  fastened  to  a  post  some  movable  object,  such  as  a 
buffalo  skull,  is  tied  to  each  cut.^ 


SEC.    122.    INITIATION.  ^43 

If  the  aspirant  should  find  that  the  trial  is  too  severe 
for  him,  he  will  be  untied,  at  his  own  request,  but  then 
he  falls  into  disgrace,  becomes  a  man-squaw,  without  the 
right  of  marrying,  of  holding  property,  of  carrying  arms, 
of  participating  in  the  public  assemblies,  or  of  associating 
with  the  warriors.  Among  six  hundred  southern  Chey- 
ennes,  only  one  failed  to  go  through  the  initiation  with 
success. 

The  aborigines  of  New  England  have  their  system  of 
torture  for  admission  into  the  warrior  class,*  and  so  have 
the  Kolushes  of  British  Columbia,^  and  the  Muras  of 
South  America.^  A  Californian  tribe  beats  the  aspirant 
with  nettles  and  compels  him  to  sit  down  on  a  nest  of 
angry  ants  which  bite  him  cruelly.^  Among  the  Mun- 
drucus,  he  must  thrust  his  arm  into  a  tube  full  of  irritated 
and  venomous  ants.^  In  the  land  of  the  Payaguas^  and 
in  portions  of  Australia,^"  and  Central  America,"  the 
young  man  is  required  to  submit  to  painful  piercings 
with  thorns  and  cuttings  with  knives.  Cruel  trials  are 
imposed  on  youths  by  the  Caribs^^  and  by  certain  Arab 
tribes.'^  In  Dongola  there  arc  bitter  duels  with  whips 
of  hippopotamus  hide,  until  one  of  the  duellists  falls 
exhausted  by  the  loss  of  blood."  The  Kaffirs,'*  Aro- 
waks,'"  Mundrucus"  and  aborigines  of  Guiana^^  have 
severe  switchings  for  youths.  If  a  Risharccn  boast  of 
his  courage,  a  hearer  may  draw  out  a  knife  and  cut 
long  gashes  in  his  arms  shoulders  and  sides,  whereupon 
the  boaster  must  do  likewise  or  be  disgraced."* 

In  New  Britain,  two  masked  men  called  dukduks, 
clothed  with  a  sacred  office,  come  about  once  in  two 
months  into  every  village  and  give  cruel  beatings  to  all 
the  men  between  the  ages  of  eighteen  and  thirty-three. 
For  two  weeks  in  succession,  these  young  men  are  called 


544  A    HISTORY   OF    MANKIND. 

together  repeatedly  every  day,  some  days  as  often  as 
twenty  times,  and  required  to  stand  up  and  submit  with- 
out complaint  to  a  severe  blow  from  the  stiff  cane  of  one 
dukduk  an  d  another  from  the  tough  flexible  switch  of 
the  other.  The  switch  encircles  the  body  or  leg  and 
cuts  through  the  skin  at  every  stroke.  For  fifteen 
years,  if  he  live  so  long,  every  man  in  New  Britain  is 
subject  to  this  torture.^® 

Many  tribes  require  the  aspirants  for  an  elective 
chieftainship  to  submit  to  severe  tests  of  endurance. 
Thus  the  Galibes,  a  tribe  of  the  Caribs,  require  him  to 
submit  for  six  months  to  at  least  six  blows  daily  from  a 
switch  that  encircles  his  body  or  leg  and  cuts  through 
the  skin  all  the  way  round,  at  every  stroke.''^  Another 
branch  of  the  Caribs  bury  the  ambitious  man  to  the 
waist  in  a  nest  of  venomous  ants."  A  third  tribe  of  the 
same  family  compel  him  to  drink  a  large  cupful  of  a 
strong  decoction  of  red  pepper.'^^ 

These  tests  of  endurance  are  so  far  beyond  what  civ- 
ilized men  would  submit  to  voluntarily,  that  if  the 
reports  were  made  to  us  by  only  a  single  witness  they 
would  be  incredible;  coming  to  us  as  they  do  by  many 
different  witnesses  with  an  overwhelming  accumulation 
of  evidence,  we  must  believe  them,  but  with  a  feeling 
that  there  is  something  here  almost  incomprehensible. 
Accepting  the  statements  we  must  draw  two  inferences  ; 
first  that  these  men  in  low  culture,  perhaps  because  of 
the  greater  exposure  of  their  skins  to  the  sun,  are  far 
less  sensitive  to  physical  pain  than  we  are ;  and  second 
that  the  reputation  for  courage  and  for  firmness  in  sub- 
mitting to  agony  without  complaint,  is  far  more  impor- 
tant in  their  mode  of  life  than  in  ours. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

RELIGION. 

Section  123.  Spirits. — The  belief  that  the  human  soul 
continues  to  exist,  as  a  conscious  personaHty,  after  the 
death  of  the  body,  is  the  beginning'  and  foundation  of 
rehgion.  In  every  tribe  of  modern  savages,  it  exists 
accompanied  by  the  supposition  that  disembodied  spirits 
take  much  interest  in  human  Hfe,  and  especially  in  that 
of  their  relatives  ;  that  they  have  much  power  to  aid  and 
injure  those  li\ing  in  the  flesh ;  that  they  use  this  power 
frequently ;  and  that,  in  its  exercise,  they  are  influenced 
by  neglect  and  defiance,  to  do  evil,  and  by  worship, 
offerings  and  praise,  to  protect  and  to  bless  the  living. 
"  The  ghost,"  as  Spencer  says,  "  is  the  primitive  type  of 
the  supernatural  being." 

On  many  important  points,  the  religious  belief  of  the 
low  savage  is  extremely  vague.*  According  to  Waitz^ 
"  it  is  a  dim  faith  in  ghosts  and  spirits."  His  opinions 
are  not  based  on  reason  and  evidence ;  nor  are  they 
arranged  into  a  complete  creed,  consistent  in  all  its  parts. 
He  has  great  difficulty  in  explaining  his  belief  in  refer- 
ence to  future  life.  In  many  cases,  he  considers  it  sac- 
rilegious to  mention  the  names  of  the  dead,  the  spirits 
of  the  gods,  or  to  perform  any  religious  ceremony  in  the 
presence  of  an  alien.  Of  the  intellectual  confusion  on 
such  subjects,  examples  are  furnished  by  some  Kaffirs 

(^45) 


246  A    HISTORY    OF    MANKIND. 

and  Malagasies,  who  though  they  say  the  soul  dies  with 
the  body,  yet  worship  their  ancestors,  bury  the  dead 
with  ecclesiastical  rites,  have  priests  and  sorcerers,  and 
treat  some  beasts  as  sacred.  Practices  implying  belief  in 
superior  invisible  powers,  which  may  be  propitiated,  are 
found  in  every  tribe,  whose  manners,  customs  and  intel- 
lectual condition  have  been  fully  described  to  us  by 
intelligent  observers.  The  assertion,  that  religion  is 
entirely  lacking  in  any  tribe,  is  based  on  a  misconception 
of  the  definition  of  the  word  religion,  or  on  ignorance  of 
the  opinions  of  the  community  in  question.  It  has  been 
said  that  the  Bushmen,^  the  Bongos,*  the  Andamanese,* 
the  Arafuras,"  the  Damaras,'  the  Hottentots,*  some 
Malagasies,®  and  various  tribes  of  Equatorial  Africa  have 
no  faith  in  a  future  existence,  and  that  the  Fuegians  the 
Juangs,^"  the  Latookas,"  the  Dinkas,  the  Wanyoros,  and 
the  aboriginal  Californians  have  no  religion.  Yet  all 
these  tribes  fear  ghosts  and  have  sorcerers.  Belief  in 
sorcery  is  one  of  the  most  prominent  features  of  savage 
religion. 

The  main  evidence  of  animism  or  the  belief  in  spirits, 
among  savages,  is  furnished  by  dreams,  which  are  more 
numerous  and  more  vivid  in  low  than  in  high  culture- 
steps.^^  When  the  food  supply  is  scanty,  innutritions  or 
unwholesome,  and  when  life  passes  in  the  midst  of  a 
rapid  succession  of  great  dangers, — and  such  circum- 
stances are  common  in  many  tribes, — the  brain  becomes 
excited,  and  sleep  abounds  with  vivid  and  fantastic  visions, 
in  which  people  are  seen  acting,  and  heard  speaking, 
with  great  distinctness.  The  delirious  fever  of  famine  is 
filled  with  such  experiences  ;  and  so  is  the  fever  brought 
on  by  the  voluntary  fasting  enjoined  by  many  of  the 
savage  religions.     The  North  American  Indian  boy  seek' 


SEC.    124.    IMAGINARY   WORLD.  24/ 

ing  a  guardian  divinity,  the  African  priest  hoping  for  a 
revelation  of  the  results  of  a  projected  military  expedi- 
tion, and  the  Siberian  shaman  preparing  to  give  an  orac- 
ular response  to  his  chief,  all  abstain,  for  several  days, 
from  eating,  with  the  utmost  confidence  that  the  brain 
will  then  get  many  impressions  that  would  not  come  to 
it  while  the  stomach  had  its  ordinary  supply  of  food. 

Sec.  124.  Imaginary  World. — This  realm  of  spirits 
was  created  by  the  savage  imagination  which,  according 
to  Lippert,  harnesses  its  conceptions,  as  if  they  vv^ere 
material  forces,  to  the  vehicle  of  human  life.^  Many 
authors  suppose  that  the  fancy,  unaided,  is  powerful 
enough  to  destroy  life ;  and  that  it  is  sufficient  to  account 
for  the  fatal  results  of  the  sacerdotal  curses  in  Polynesia 
and  Africa ;  ^  though  other  observers  assume  that  secret 
poison  counts  for  much  more  than  the  imagination  in 
such  cases. ^ 

To  the  enlightened  man,  an  ordinary  dream  is  a  mean- 
ingless trick  of  the  brain ;  to  the  savage,  it  is  an  actual 
experience  of  his  soul  while  absent  from  his  body.  Such 
a  belief  prevails  among  most  of  the  tribes  of  America, 
Polynesia,  and  Africa.*  They  suppose  that  the  phan- 
toms of  the  persons,  seen  and  heard  in  dreams,  are  the 
souls  of  the  living,  absent  temporarily  from  their  bodies, 
The  communications,  received  in  dreams,  are  sacred. 
When  they  can  be  interpreted  as  prophetic,  they  must  if 
possible,  be  fulfilled.*  Thus,  when  a  man  has  done  a 
thing  in  a  dream,  he  must  do  it  awake.  Early  in  the 
last  century,  an  Iroquois  chief  told  the  Governor  of 
New  York  of  a  dream  in  which  the  latter  gave  him  a 
military  uniform  such  as  was  worn  by  a  British  general. 
The  Briton,  understanding  the  .savage  ideas  of  such 
dreams,  said  this  one  must  be  fulfilled,  and  he  presented 


248  A    HISTORY    OF    MANKIND. 

the  coveted  dress  to  the  chief  and  at  the  same  time  told 
of  a  dream  in  which  the  latter  had  ceded  to  him  all  the 
territory  between  two  rivers.  The  chief  gave  up  the 
land  but  added  that  he  would  never  dream  with  the  gov- 
ernor again.  As  Henry  Maine  says,  "  early  religions  are 
composed  of  such  stuff  as  dreams  are  made  of"® 

Sleep,  swoons,  and  trances,  are  conditions,  in  which, 
according  to  savage  opinion,  the  soul  leaves  the  body. 
Sickness  is  attributed  to  the  soul's  habit  of  deserting  or 
its  desire  to  desert  its  tenement,  or  to  the  invasion  of 
the  body  by  a  hostile  soul.  When  sick,  the  Fijians, 
Caribs,  Arowaks,  Fantis,  Loangoes,  Karens  and  Hos 
pray  the  soul  to  remain,  reproach  it  for  wanting  to  go, 
bawl  out  to  it  to  come  back  (as  if  it  had  already  started) 
or  employ  a  priest  to  counteract  the  influence  of  the 
imaginary  sorcerer,  who  is  trying  to  entice  the  soul  away 
from  the  body. 

According  to  the  faith  of  many  tribes,  every  person 
has  several  souls.  His  breath  is  one,'  his  shadow 
another,  and  his  reflection  in  the  water  a  third.*  When 
he  dreams,  one  of  his  souls  either  pays  or  receives  a  visit.^ 
Even  when  awake  and  without  his  knowledge,  one  of 
his  souls  may  enter  the  body  of  an  enemy,  attack  its 
organs,  and  cause  disease.  In  many  countries  it  is 
highly  impolite  to  tread  on  a  man's  shadow,  which  is 
one  of  his  souls.  So  long  as  the  body  has  a  shadow,  so 
long  a  soul  remains  in  it. 

Savages  generally  believe  that  the  excarnated  soul 
dies  after  a  time,  either  in  the  natural  course  of  events  or 
by  violence.  It  may  be  eaten  up  by  cannibal  spirits  or 
by  gods.  It  may  be  slain  in  various  ways.  Since  it 
revisits  the  living  in  dreams,  it  does  not  necessarily  die 
with  the  body.     With  the  lapse  of  time,  its  visits  become 


SEC.    124.    IMAGINARY   WORLD.  249 

rare  and  finally  cease.  Its  spiritual  life  has  then  come 
to  an  end.  Its  existence  does  not  continue  more  than  a 
generation  or  two.^"  The  disembodied  soul  of  the  father 
is  alive,  that  of  the  great-grandfather  is  not."  Among 
the  Mangenyas,  the  life  of  a  spook  is  about  as  long  as 
that  of  a  material  man.*'^  The  Hill  Dyaks  suppose  that 
the  future  existence  is  very  brief.  The  hut  where  a 
death  occurs,  is  taboo  for  twelve  days  and  during  that 
period  is  haunted  by  the  spirit.  Nothing  must  be  taken 
from  it  and  no  outsider  must  enter  it  or  .speak  to  any  of 
its  occupants.^^  The  Tahitians  imagine  that,  in  the 
course  of  time,  most  of  the  excarnated  souls  are  eaten  by 
the  gods  or  by  other  souls,  just  as  in  regions  occupied  by 
cannibals,  many  of  the  rabble  are,  sooner  or  later,  eaten 
by  the  warriors.^*  Among  the  Maoris,  the  soul  is 
destroyed  when  the  body  is  eaten  ^*  by  cannibals;  among 
the  Fijians,  when  the  man  dies  before  marriage  ;  ^®  among 
the  Harvey  Islanders,  when  he  dies  a  natural  death ;  among 
the  Hurons,  when  he  commits  suicide;  among  several 
North  American  tribes,  when  he  is  scalped  or  hanged  ; " 
among  the  Damaras,  when  he  is  eaten  by  wild  beasts.'^ 
among  the  Matiamba,  when  his  corpse  is  thrown  into 
the  water  ;  and  among  the  Bushmen  when  a  fire  is  built 
over  his  grave.''  The  Fijian  believes  that,  after  death, 
he  will  have  to  fight  his  way  into  the  realm  of  spirits 
and  if  defeated,  his  soul  will  die  immediately  and  forever. 
In  Guinea,  immortality  belongs  only  to  those  who  observe 
the  feasts  and  ceremonies  of  the  established  religion. 
The  soul  of  the  defunct  Marambo  hu.sband  clings  to  the 
neck  of  his  widow,  an  1  before  she  marries  again,  she 
dives  into  a  river  and  washes  the  unwelcome  incumbrance 
off  into  annihilation.'"  When  the  cannibal  cats  his  slain 
enemy  he  not  only  destroys  his  enemy's  soul,  and  thus 


250  A    HISTORY   OF    MANKIND. 

protects  himself  against  spiritual  persecution,  but  he  also 
adds  the  spirit  and  courage  of  the  dead  man  to  his  own. 
The  Chavantes  of  South  America  eat  the  bodies  of  their 
children  who  die  naturally;'^  and  some  Australians  give 
the  flesh  of  a  dead  child  to  its  surviving  brother,  or  even 
kill  one  child  to  strengthen  another. 

As  dreams  are  more  frequent  and  more  vivid  in  sav- 
agism  than  in  civilized  life,  so  also  are  several  abnormal 
physical  conditions,  including  clairvoyance,  somnambu- 
lism, and  double  consciousness.  High  sensitives  are 
numerous  in  many  tribes,  and  they  attribute  their  abnor- 
mal perceptions  to  the  aid  of  spirits  ;  that  is  they  accept 
a  current  statement  which  had  its  origin  in  the  imagina- 
tion. Many  of  the  phases  of  modern  spirit  manifestation 
and  mediumship  are  found  among  low  savages ;  and  in 
all  cases  they  have  no  bases  save  delusion  or  trickery. 
An  abnormal  perception  there  may  be  often  ;  a  supernat- 
ural communication,  never. 

Sec.  125.  Devout  Fear'. — In  non-tilling  culture,  the 
most  common  faith  regards  the  spirits  as  predominantly 
malignant ;  as  beings  to  be  feared  rather  than  loved,  to 
be  avoided  rather  than  sought,  to  be  propitiated  rather 
than  praised.  Disease,  death,  defeat,  drought,  storm  and 
famine  are  attributed  to  them,  while  health,  life,  victory, 
pleasant  weather  and  abundant  crops  are  accepted  as 
coming  in  the  ordinary  course  of  nature.  A  Roman 
proverb  says,  "  Fear  first  made  the  gods."^  According  to 
the  Japanese,  "  The  gods,  who  do  harm,  must  be  propi- 
tiated.'" The  Hebrew  Scripture  tells  as  that  "  The  fear 
of  the  Lord  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom ;  "  and  in  old 
English  maxims  we  read  that  "  Fear  is  the  mother  of 
devotion,"  and  that  "  Man's  extremity  is  God's  oppor- 
tunity." 


SEC.    125.    DEVOUT   FEAR.  25 1 

In  early  culture,  the  spirits  of  the  dead  are  exacting, 
Jealous,  revengeful  and  malevolent/  The  survivor  tries 
to  avoid  them.  One  of  the  first  acts  of  soul-worship*  is 
the  abandonment  of  the  dwelling  of  the  deceased.  The 
Lepchas  and  Kamtschatkans  leave  the  hut  with  the  corpse 
and  never  occupy  it  again;  the  negroes  of  Duketown 
abandon  it  for  a  year ;  and  the  Coroados  and  Creeks  leave 
the  village  and  its  site  for  a  year.*  There  are  two 
motives  for  abandoning  the  home  of  the  dead,  first  to 
get  beyond  his  reach,  and  second  to  give  him  undisturbed 
possession  of  the  food  supply  of  the  district.^  The 
excarnated  soul  is  supposed  to  need  food  and  to  get  it 
just  as  the  living  warrior  does.  It  is  not  necessary  or 
customary  to  move  for  a  child,  a  woman  or  a  slave  ;  these 
have  little  power  to  hurt.  The  greater  tlie  rank  and  the 
military  power  of  the  dead,  the  more  dangerous  he  is  to 
the  living. 

The  Damaras  throw  the  corpse  out  to  the  wolves,  so 
that  the  soul  shall  be  destroyed  and  prevented  from 
returning  to  annoy  and  injure  its  relatives.'  The  corpse 
of  the  Siamese  is  taken  from  the  hut  not  through  the 
door,  but  through  a  hole  cut  for  the  occasion  in  the  w:ill 
and  then  carried  rapidly  three  times  round  the  house,  so 
that  the  spirit  cannot  find  its  way  back.  The  hole  in  the 
wall  is  closed  up  permanently  without  delay,  so  that  if  it 
should  come  back  it  cannot  enter.  There  is  a  supposi- 
tion that  it  must  come  in  where  it  went  out.*  A  simi- 
lar idea  leads  some  inhabitants  of  ancient  Hindostan  to 
tie  the  feet  of  the  dead  together,  and  perhaps  influences 
some  South  Americans,  when  thc\-  tic  tlie  body  in  a  sit- 
ting posture  and  crowd  it  into  a  clay  pot  before  buri.il." 
Sharks,  crocodiles,  wolves  and  \uUurcs  arc  venerated  in 
many  countries  for  their  services  in  eating  liuinan  bodies 


252  A    HISTORY   OF    MANKIND. 

and  protecting  the  living  against  the  persecution  of  the 
spirits.  Every  year  the  priest  in  the  Nicobar  Islands 
drives  the  spirits  which  haunt  every  house  into  a  canoe, 
which  he  sets  adrift,  with  its  cargo,  in  the  sea.  There  is 
a  similar  custom  in  the  Maldive  Islands/"  When  a  house 
has  been  built  in  New  Zealand,  a  priest  consecrates  it  with 
prayers  and  sleeps  in  it  alone,  to  drive  away  evil  spirits, 
before  the  owner  takes  possession."  In  Hawaii  and  Ta- 
hiti, prayers  are  addressed  to  the  spirits,  begging  them  to 
stay  away.^^  The  Mishuris  say,  "  We  are  everywhere 
surrounded  by  demons ;  they  live  in  the  rivers,  mount- 
ains and  trees  ;  they  walk  about  in  the  dark  and  live  in  the 
winds  ;  we  are  constantly  suffering  from  them."'^  Among 
the  Quaiquas,  Korannas,  Basutos,  Oedos,  Mpongwes,'* 
Angolese,^''  Greenlanders,*"  Mosquitoes,  Abipones,"  some 
Kaffirs,^^  and  some  Lower  Californians,  the  only  spirits 
worshiped,  and  perhaps  the  only  ones  recognized  as  ex- 
isting, are  evil.  Many  tribes  which  believe  also  in  good 
spirits,  consider  it  useless  to  devote  any  attention  to 
them,  because  their  goodness  is  a  mere  abstinence  from 
doing  injury.  Such  are  the  Indians  of  Virginia  and 
Florida,^'  and  of  many  other  parts  of  North  America. 
Fear  of  demons  is  the  chief  feature  of  the  religion  of 
the  Tinnehs  and  of  the  Katschintzo  Tartars.^"  A  Ma- 
lagasy praying  said,  "  Nyang,  wicked  and  powerful, 
do  not  make  the  thunder  roll  over  our  heads.  Order 
the  sea  to  stay  within  its  bounds.  Spare,  O  Nyang,  the 
ripening  fruits ;  and  do  not  blast  the  blossom  of  the 
rice.""^  A  Lepcha  of  Hindostan  said,  "  The  good  spirits 
do  us  no  harm  ;  the  malignant  spirits  who  dwell  in  every 
rock,  grove,  and  mountain  are  constantly  at  mischief  and 
to  them  we  must  pray  for  they  hurt  us.""^  In  Australia, 
Tasmania,  Fiji  and  in  many  of  the  Polynesian  islands,^^  the 


SEC.    125.    DEVOUT    FEAR.  253 

night  air  is  full  of  evil  spirits  seeking  men  whose  souls  they 
may  eat.^*  For  fear  of  them  the  people  rarely  leave  their 
huts  at  night,  unless  under  some  very  urgent  impulse, 
and  then  they  carry  a  firebrand  with  which  to  scare 
away  the  demons.  On  the  Malay  peninsula,  a  fire  to 
drive  away  the  evil  spirits  is  built  in  front  of  the  hut 
when  a  child  is  about  to  be  born.'*  In  Iceland,  a  fire- 
brand is  carried  round  the  hut  to  protect  it  against  the 
same  enemy.""  Before  pouring  out  water,  the  Bedouin 
asks  forgiveness  of  the  efreets  or  evil  spirits.'^  When 
bathing,  the  Alfuras  pray,  "  Let  the  water  take  sick- 
ness, fatigue  and  evil  dreams  to  the  evil  spirits." 
On  important  occasions,  the  Dyaks  propitiate  the  spirits 
with  the  head  of  a  human  victim  murdered  for  the  pur- 
pose.''* The  spirits  of  the  dead  are  so  malignant  in 
Sumatra  that  the  most  destructive  man-eating  tigers  are 
supposed  to  be  possessed  by  them.'' 

An  Australian  priest  conducting  the  ceremonies  at  a 
grave  said,  "  The  dead  man  has  promised  that  if  his  mur- 
der should  be  sufficiently  avenged,  his  spirit  will  not 
haunt  the  tribe  nor  cause  them  fear,  nor  mislead  them 
into  wrong  tracks,  nor  bring  sickness  among  them,  nor 
make  loud  noises  in  the  night."^"  This  language  implies 
that  unless  appeased,  the  spirit  would  do  all  the  mali- 
cious acts  mentioned. 

Among  savages  generally,  all  evil  is  attributed  to  the 
influence,  all  disease  and  death  to  the  possession  of  malig- 
nant spirits.  There  is  no  conception  of,  or  at  least  no 
belief  in,  a  natural  cause  for  a  decline  of  health  or 
strength,  or  for  a  cessation  of  life.  All  aches  arc 
brought  upon  us  by  demons  which  have  entered  our 
bodies,  either  at  the  instigation  of  their  own  malevolence 
or  under  the  control  of  some  sorcerer.     In  many  tribes 


254  A   HISTORY   OF   MA^fKINi). 

it  is  assumed  that  every  death  is  the  result  of  witchcraft 
which  can  be  discovered  and  traced  to  its  author  by  a 
priest,  and  must  be  traced  and  avenged  before  the  soul  of 
the  dead  man  can  rest.  Until  satisfied,  he  torments  his 
relatives  for  their  neglect  of  duty  to  him. 

Epilepsy  and  apoplexy  are  attacks  of  malignant  souls  ; 
sneezes,  yawns,  and  shudders  are  unsuccessful  attempts 
of  evil  spirits  to  get  possession  of  the  body.  In  many 
savage  tribes  and  barbarous  nations  as  well  as  in  some 
civilized  communities,  when  a  person  sneezes,  he  must 
be  congratulated  on  his  escape  from  the  demon  by  some 
such  phrase  as  "God  bless  you,"  or  its  equivalent.  Af- 
ter he  has  yawned,  the  Arab  exclaims,  "  I  take  refuge 
with  Allah,  from  Satan  the  accursed,"  and  the  Tyrolese 
peasant  crosses  himself"  A  Jewish  proverb  which  says, 
"Open  not  thy  mouth  to  Satan,"  doubtless  had  its  origin 
in  the  same  idea.^^  Among  the  Tongans,  a  sneeze  by 
any  person  about  to  engage  in  an  enterprise,  is  an  omen 
that  he  will  fail.'' 

Livingstone  says  of  the  people  of  Angola :  "  When 
the  natives  turn  their  eyes  to  the  future  world,  they  have 
a  view  cheerless  enough  of  their  own  utter  helplessness 
and  hopelessness.  They  fancy  themselves  completely  in 
the  power  of  disembodied  spirits,  and  look  upon  the 
prospect  of  following  them  as  the  greatest  of  misfortunes. 
Hence,  they  are  constantly  deprecating  the  wrath  of  de- 
parted souls,  believing  that  if  they  are  appeased,  there  is 
no  other  cause  of  death  but  witchcraft,  which  may  be 
averted  by  charms,"" 

Sec.  126.  Next  Life. — As  dreamers  see  the  dead  tak- 
ing part  in  the  ordinary  business  of  life, — working,  play- 
ing, hunting,  fighting,  talking,  laughing,  crying,  eating,  ' 
and  drinking, — so  popular  belief  teaches  that  the  disem- 


SEC.    126.    NEXT    LIFE.  255 

bodied  spirits  have  the  same  wants  and  gratifications, 
the  same  pleasures  and  pains,  the  same  trials  and  tri^ 
umphs,  the  same  occupations  and  amusements,  the  same 
affections  and  passions,  the  same  loves  and  hates,  as  in 
the  material  life.  They  need  food,  drink,  clothing,  shel- 
ter, warmth,  light,  tools,  arms,  dogs,  friends,  slaves,  and 
wives,  all  of  which  they  find  in  the  spiritual  world. 
They  help  their  living  friends  and  hurt  their  foes.  They 
see  and  recognize  the  souls  of  men  whom  they  knew 
on  earth.  They  bless  or  curse  other  spirits  ;  they  frater- 
nize or  fight  with  them.  They  taunt,  wound,  capture, 
enslave,  slay,  torture,  scalp,  roast,  and  eat  one  another, 
as  if  they  were  still  in  the  body. 

In  his  new  home  beyond  the  grave,  the  spiritual  man 
will  need  spiritual  food,  spiritual  clothes,  and  a  spiritual 
hut;  he  will  shoot  spiritual  game  with  spiritual  arrows; 
he  will  fight  spiritual  enemies  with  spiritual  weapons. 
The  souls  of  living  beasts  can  be  sent  to  the  world  of 
spirits  by  killing  them ;  and  the  souls  of  inanimate  ob- 
jects can  be  released  by  breaking  them.  If  the  killing  or 
breaking  be  done  at  the  grave  of  the  man  recently  dead, 
he  is  placed  in  possession  of  the  spirits  of  the  tools, 
beasts,  or  slaves  there  released. 

As  the  future  life  is  to  be  a  continuation  of  this  one,  so 
the  chieftainship,  nobility,  distinction  as  a  warrior,  and 
any  notable  characteristic  of  a  man  on  earth  will  also  be- 
long to  him  in  the  skies.  The  Fijian  or  Tahitian  chief 
will  have  as  many  subjects  and  servants  there  as  here, 
and  all  the  enemies  slain  by  a  Karen  here,  will  be  his 
slaves  there.^  In  Cochin  China,  the  poor  people  will 
not  celebrate  the  annual  feast  of  the  dead  on  the  same 
day  with  the  rich  for  fear  that  the  spirits  of  the  rich,  be- 
ing then  on  the  lookout,  and  being  more  powerful,  will 


256  A    HISTORY   OF    MANKIND. 

appropriate  the  presents,  and,  besides,  will  enslave  the 
poor  spirits."  The  Kaffir  prays  to  the  spirit  of  his  dead 
chief  to  compel  the  ancestor  of  the  worshiper  to  bless 
and  protect  his  descendant.^ 

According  to  the  creed  of  many  tribes,  the  soul  lives 
forever  in  the  condition  of  the  man  at  the  time  of  his 
death.  If  he  was  then  deaf,  blind,  lame,  toothless,  or  de- 
crepit with  age,  so  his  soul  will  be  forever.  A  man 
killed  in  the  dark  remains  in  darkness  forever.  Age 
does  not  advance  there,  but  he  who  has  grown  very  old 
here,  will  continue  to  be  senile  there.  The  other  life 
being  higher  in  dignity  than  this  one,  the  warriors  in 
many  tribes  have  no  desire  to  live  here  beyond  the  age  of 
forty  or  forty-five.  When  Wilkes  visited  the  Fiji  group^ 
about  1840,  he  found  no  aborigine  that  seemed  to  have 
passed  his  fortieth  year.  It  was  the  duty  of  the  son  to 
slay  the  father,  though  he  sometimes  waited  until  the 
latter  requested  this  favor.  The  Vatdans  bury  their  par- 
ents alive  ;*  the  Chippeways  strangle  or  otherwise  de- 
spatch their  relatives  soon  after  the  decline  of  life  begins. 

In  various  tribes,  the  spirit  stays  near  its  home  in  the 
flesh,  or  near  its  grave.  In  other  tribes,  it  lives  in  a  dis- 
tant realm  of  souls,  and  occasionally  revisits  its  relatives 
and  its  former  abode.*  In  Polynesian  groups,  composed 
of  small  islands,  the  spirit  home  is  in  islands  to  the  west- 
ward ;  in  large  islands  and  continents  containing  moun- 
tains, the  world  of  spirits  is  in  the  mountains,  as  it  was  in 
Greece  in  Mt.  Olympus. 

The  belief  that  brutes  and  inanimate  objects  have 
souls  which  accompany  the  spirits  of  men  in  a  future  life 
though  accepted  by  savages  generally,®  is  not  found 
among  the  Australians,  Tasmanians,  Andamanese,  Fue- 
gians,  and  Bushmen  ;^  and  among  these  tribes  mentioned 


SEC.    127.    BURIAL,   ETC.  257 

is  lacking,  perhaps,  because  their  stock  of  accumulated 
property  is  so  exceedingly  scanty  that  they  have  nothing 
to  offer  to  the  dead.  The  lack  of  material  for  offerings 
may  have  prevented  the  establishment  of  a  custom  that 
would  gradually  have  impressed  the  faith  on  the  public 
mind. 

Sec.  127.  Burial,  etc. — The  disposal  of  the  corpse 
belongs  to  the  domain  of  religion.  In  many  countries  it 
gives  occasion  to  the  highest  expression  of  religious 
feeling.  Among  the  Eskimos,  Kamtschatkans,  coast 
Chookchees,  Mahenge  and  Wahebe,  the  body  is  thrown 
out  to  be  devoured  by  wild  beasts,  and  the  surviving 
relatives,  when  passing  near  the  remains,  show  no  signs 
of  grief  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  prehistoric 
cave  dwellers  in  Europe  treated  their  dead  in  the  same 
manner.  Some  tribes  say  that  if  the  body  is  eaten  by 
wild  beasts,  its  spirit  will  be  destroyed  and  thus  will  be 
prevented  from  returning  to  persecute  the  living.  Those 
tribes  which  have  outgrown  this  fear  of  persecution  are 
careful  to  preserve  the  corpses  of  their  relatives,  or  at 
least  of  their  warriors,  against  desecration  by  wild  beasts. 

Among  the  reverential  modes  of  disposing  of  the 
dead,  cu.stomary  among  savages,  are  burial,  burning, 
keeping  on  high  platforms  or  on  steep  rocky  points  in 
the  open  air,  and  embalming.  Of  these,  burial  is  the 
mo.st  extensively  prevalent.  It  exists  in  Polynesia, 
Melanesia,  Africa,  and  much  of  America.  In  New  South 
Wales  the  young  are  burned  and  the  old  buried ;  in  por- 
tions of  California,  both  cremation  and  burial  are  used. 

The  treatment  of  the  corpse  depends  in  many  regions, 

on  the  station  of  the  person  in  life.     Slaves,  women  and 

children  are  thnnvn  out  to  the  beasts,  by  tribes  which 

bury  the  common  warrior  in   a  shallow  grave,  and  the 

17 


258  A   HISTORY   OF   MANKIND. 

chief  in  a  deep  grave  or  under  a  mound.  The  Daho- 
mans,  Fantees  and  some  other  African  tribes  bury  the 
dead  man  in  his  hut,  which  is  then  abandoned  as  a  dwell- 
ing, though  it  is  visited  occasionally  by  mourners  and 
worshipers.  Where  the  huts  are  built  with  little  labor, 
as  in  Kaffraria,  the  village,  in  which  a  prominent  man 
has  died,  is  abandoned. 

In  Angola,  the  corpse  is  buried  only  a  few  inches 
deep  in  the  hut  of  its  owner,  and  a  fire  is  kept  burning 
over  it  for  a  month.  At  the  end  of  that  period  the  remains, 
having  been  reduced  to  a  dry  condition,  are  exhumed  and 
kept  as  a  mummy  in  the  hut  for  two  years,  and  then  they 
are  finally  buried.  In  New  Zealand,  after  a  body  has 
been  in  the  ground  eight  months,  the  bones  are  dug  up, 
cleaned  and  buried  again.  On  the  eastern  coast  of  Mad- 
agascar, the  corpse  is  suspended  in  a  hut  until  the  bones 
fall  apart  and  then  they  are  buried. 

West  of  the  Mississippi  a  common  custom  is  to  sew 
up  the  corpse  in  a  buffalo  skin  and  lay  it  on  a  rude  floof 
of  poles  about  ten  or  fifteen  feet  above  the  ground,  sup- 
ported by  posts  or  the  limbs  of  a  tree.^  Some  tribes, 
after  having  thus  disposed  of  a  corpse,  pay  no  further  at- 
tention to  it ;  others  bury  the  bones,  when  the  flesh  has 
decayed.  The  Redmen  on  the  banks  of  the  lower  Co- 
lumbia put  their  dead  on  top  of  steep  rocky  points,  or  on 
elevated  platforms.  In  the  Shir  valley,  the  corpse  is 
wrapped  in  a  mat  and  suspended  in  a  tree  or  in  the 
deserted  hut  of  the  owner. 

In  Usekke,^  the  corpse  of  a  chief  having  been  set 
upright  in  a  hollow  tree  is  attended  day  and  night  by 
men  of  his  tribe,  who  pour  beer  over  him  in  the  day 
and  make  loud  lamentation  at  night  until  putrefaction  is 
far  advanced ;  then  the  remains  are  put  on  an  elevated 


SEC.    128.    MOURNING.  259 

platform  and  kept  there  until  nothing  remains  save  the 
bones,  which  are  finally  buried.  The  Okinagins  bind 
the  body  to  the  trunk  or  branch  of  a  tree  with  such 
wrappings  as  to  keep  the  bones  in  place  long  after  the 
flesh  has  disappeared.  In  parts  of  Melanesia,  the  corpse 
is  placed  in  a  canoe  and  launched  in  an  inlet  when  the 
tide  begins  to  ebb  so  as  to  be  carried  out  to  sea. 

The  Tahitians  embalm  their  chiefs  and  great  nobles. 
They  take  out  the  brains  and  intestines,  oil  the  body  all 
over  every  day,  and  keep  it  in  the  sun  turning  it  fre- 
quently, until  it  dries  so  that  it  will  keep  for  several  years. 
After  the  head  has  separated  from  the  body,  the  skull  is 
cleaned  and  kept  for  family  worship,  and  the  other 
remains  are  buried.  In  Virginia  and  New  Guinea,  the 
body  of  a  brave  warrior  is  dried  before  a  fire  and  kept  for 
years. 

In  some  countries,  before  burning  or  burying,  the 
corpse  is  bent  at  the  hips,  knees  and  elbows  so  that  it 
can  be  tied  together  in  a  compact  form ;  in  others  the 
backbone  is  broken,  to  facilitate  the  process  of  tying 
together. 

Most  tribes  in  their  burials  pay  no  regard  to  the  points 
of  the  compass,  but  the  Samoans  and  Fijians,  believing 
that  the  land  of  spirits  is  in  the  west,  bury  their  corpses 
in  a  nearly  horizontal  position  with  the  feet  and  face 
towards  the  evening  sun.  The  Winnebagoes  turn  the 
face  to  the  west,  and  put  the  body  in  a  sitting  position. 
A  similar  position  is  customary  with  the  face  to  the  east 
among  the  Yumanas  and  the  Australians. 

Sec.  128.  Mouridtig. — General  custom  demands  much 
demonstration  of  grief  from  the  relatives  of  the  dead 
warrior,  and  especially  from  the  women.  The  methods 
of    mourning    include    loud    lamentation,    shaving    the 


260  A  HISTORY   OF    MANKIND. 

head,  smearing  the  scalp  and  face  with  black  pitch  or 
paint,  breaking  out  teeth,  amputating  a  finger  joint  and 
cutting  gashes  in  the  flesh  with  a  knife  or  whip.  In 
some  tribes  the  wailing  is  not  limited  to  the  interval 
between  the  death  and  the  burial,  but  is  repeated  for 
years  whenever  a  woman  relative  passes  near  the  grave. 
In  portions  of  Africa,  Australia  and  North  America,  the 
mother  carries  the  corpse,  skeleton  or  wooden  image  of 
her  child,  and  the  widow  carries  the  skull  of  her  husband 
with  her  for  months  or  years,  and  frequently  talks  and 
offers  food  to  it.  The  show  of  grief  sometimes  takes  the 
form  of  frenzy,  as  if  reason  had  been  dethroned.  In 
Tahiti  and  Ashantee,  the  death  of  the  head  chief  is  a 
signal  for  a  reign  of  anarchy  in  which  all  kinds  of  crimes 
are  committed.  Among  the  Gonds,  at  such  a  time,  the 
ordinary  laws  of  sexual  propriety  are  suspended.  To 
demonstrate  his  sorrow  for  the  death  of  his  mother,  a 
Kaffir  chief  slaughtered  several  thousand  subjects.^ 

The  mourners  for  a  Samoan  chief  sit  at  his  grave  tor 
ten  days,  and  keep  a  fire  constantly  burning  there  during 
that  period.  The  Nez  Perce  mourners  dance  and  sing 
every  day  at  the  grave  of  their  chief  for  thirty  days. 
The  Chippeway  mourners  maintain  a  fire  at  the  gra\'e 
for  four  days,  at  the  end  of  which  time  they  say  his  soul 
has  reached  the  spirit  world.^ 

Teeth  are  broken  out  among  the  Pacific  islanders  and 
some  negro  tribes.  Cutting  until  the  blood  flows  freely 
is  common  in  Polynesia,  Melanesia,  North  America,  and 
parts  of  Africa.  The  Maoris  make  the  marks  durable  by 
rubbing  in  charcoal.*  The  mourning  cuts  of  the  Ton- 
gans  are  made  on  the  body  under  the  armpits,  on  the  in- 
side of  the  thighs,  and  through  the  cheeks.  The  Flat- 
heads  cut  out  pieces  of  flesh  ;*  and  the  Hawaiians  some- 


SEC.    128.    MOURNING.  261 

times  gouge  out  eyes.  The  amputation  of  a  jfinger  joint 
is  fashionable  mourning  among  the  Redmen  and  Poly- 
nesians, and  after  two  joints  have  been  taken  from  each 
little  finger,  it  is  sufficient  to  cut  off  the  end  of  a  stump 
so  thiit  it  looks  as  if  freshly  amputated.  In  Guiana  the 
young  men  nearly  related  to  or  intimately  friendly  with 
the  deceased  must  engage  in  duels  with  switches,  which 
cut  through  the  skin  and  cause  much  loss  of  blood. 

The  mourning  among  the  Indian  tribes  west  of  the 
Mississippi  after  the  death  of  a  chief  is  thus  described  by 
Dodge :  "  The  quiet  rivalr)-  of  attention  to  his  wants 
heretofore  [while  living]  displayed  by  them  [his  wives] 
gave  place  to  a  furious  rivalry  in  demonstrations  of  grief 
All  howl  continuously  and  in  unison  ;  but  lest  the  more 
strongly  lunged  should  obtain  advantage  in  this  exercise, 
they  continue  the  rivalry  in  such  acts  of  self-abasement 
and  self-torture  as  are  almost  incredible.  The  hair  is 
hacked  off,  the  clothing  torn  from  the  person  ;  ghastly, 
horrible,  and  even  dangerous  wounds  are  inflicted  ;  their 
breasts  are  slashed  open,  their  arms  and  legs  slit  and  cut 
with  knives ;  their  faces  and  persons  disfigured ;  and, 
covered  with  blood  and  dust  and  filth,  they  croon  and 
wail  and  howl  until  nature  is  exhausted.  It  is  only  won- 
derful that  death  does  not  more  frequently  ensue  from 
these  self-inflicted  tortures,  for  the  women  appear  to  be 
perfect  maniacs  for  the  time,  and  cut  and  slash  them- 
selves without  regard  to  consequences."" 

At  the  funeral  of  Finau  I.,  king  of  Tonga,  one  of  the 
chief  mourners  amon<j:  the  warriors  said,  "Finau,  I  know 
your  thought;  you  went  to  Pulotu  supposing  your  peo- 
ple were  not  loyal  to  you ;  that  I  and  others  were  not 
fu'thful  to  you;  but  where  is  the  evidence?  Where  is 
the    least    sign    that    we  were  not   devoted?     [Here  he 


262  A    HISTORY    OF    MANKIND. 

struck  himself  with  his  club.]  Is  not  that  proof  of  my 
sincerity  ?  [Here  he  struck  himself  again.]  Does  not 
that  show  my  attachment  to  you,  my  beloved  warrior 
and  king?"" 

Sec.  129,  Soni  Worslup. — Among  people  who  believe 
that  disembodied  spirits  have  the  power  to  help  and  hurt 
the  living,  and  the  desire  to  be  propitiated  by  gifts  and 
praise,  there  is  no  distinct  line  of  separation  between 
mourning  and  worship.  Lamentation  for  death,  and 
sepulture  or  cremation,  according  to  the  customary  rites, 
are  obligatory  not  merely  out  of  regard  to  the  feelings 
and  interests  of  the  surviving  relatives,  but  are  necessary 
for  the  welfare  of  the  dead,  who,  Avithout  these  attentions, 
cannot  be  happ}'  in  the  world  of  spirits,  and  in  some 
tribes  cannot  even  reach  it.  The  Polynesians,  Brazilians, 
Karens,  many  Redmen,  and  some  Australians,  believe 
that  the  dead  has  no  rest  until  the  body  has  been  dis- 
posed of  with  the  established  ceremonies. 

In  the  Tahitian  Islands,  the  attainment  of  future  life 
by  the  dead  man  depends  on  a  proper  burial,  for  which 
it  is  indispensable  that  a  pig  roasted  whole  and  some 
vegetables  should  be  placed  in  the  grave  with  the  corpse. 
After  this  has  been  done,  the  male  head  of  the  family, 
standing  at  the  side  of  the  grave,  says,  "  I  loved  you  in 
your  life;  I  tried  to  cure  you  in  your  illness;  but  now 
that  you  are  dead,  take  these  presents  with  you,  so  that 
you  can  gain  admittance  to  the  dwellings  of  the  gods. 
Do  not  return  to  persecute  us."  The  grave  is  then  filled 
up  and  the  dead  is  supposed  to  be  at  rest,  unless,  within 
a  few  days  a  cricket  is  heard  near  the  grave.  If  so,  the 
noise  is  attributed  to  the  unhappy  soul  whereupon  this 
lament  is  howled,  "  Oh,  our  brother !  his  soul  has  not 
been  admitted  into  the  company  of  the  gods ;  he  is  hun- 


SEC.    129.    SOUL   WORSHIP.  263 

gry ;  he  is  cold."  Then  additional  offerings  are  made  to 
him.  If  the  body  is  not  properly  buried,  the  spirit  comes 
back  to  torment  the  neglectful  relatives,  and  to  attack 
and  kill  any  man  found  out  of  doors  in  the  darkness.^ 
These  ideas  are  not  unlike  those  of  the  Brahmins  who 
teach  that  when  the  sacrifices  to  the  deceased  are  not 
made  properly  by  the  descendants,  the  ancestors  lose 
their  places  in  the  higher  sphere  and  must  be  born 
again  on  earth.'  The  Greeks  also  considered  the  con- 
ventional funeral  rites  indispensable  for  the  repose  of  the 
souls  of  the  dead. 

It  is  assumed  that  the  excarnated  spirits  are  pleased 
with  such  gifts  and  honors  as  are  paid  to  chiefs,  and 
these  are  therefore  rendered  with  the  expectation  of  re- 
ward by  direct  divine  favor,  including  protection  against 
material  and  immaterial  enemies.  In  many  cases  the  ad- 
oration is  suggested  by  sincere  affection  for  the  dead  rel- 
ative or  chief,  but  is  accompanied  by  a  confident  expec- 
tation of  positive  reward  or  of  negative  exemption  from 
evil.  At  the  grave  of  his  ancestor,  the  New  Caledonian 
prays,  "  Compassionate  father,  here  is  some  food ;  be 
kind  to  us  on  account  of  it,"^  When  he  sacrifices  an  ox 
to  his  ancestors,  the  Zulu  prays,  "Ye  spirits  of  my  peo- 
ple, here  is  your  bullock  ;  here  is  your  food.  Bless  me 
with  health  and  comfort.  Father  bless  and  protect  me. 
Grandfather  bless  and  protect  me."  He  names  the  an- 
cestors from  whom  he  expects  favors.* 

In  many  tribes  the  fear  of  the  disembodied  souls  is  ac- 
companied by  a  careful  avoidance  of  every  mention  of 
their  names.  They  are  too  august  to  be  referred  to  ex- 
cept by  some  paraphrase.  They  are  offended  by  famil- 
iarity ;  and  a  direct  or  indirect  call  to  them  attracts  their 
attention  and  brings  them  into  dangerous  proximity. 


264  A    HISTORY   OF    MANKIND. 

The  tilling  savage  frequently  addresses  formal  prayers 
to  his  divinities,  beseeching  them  to  stay  away  from  his 
village,  to  consume  the  offerings  placed  on  their  graves, 
to  give  help  in  hunting,  fishing,  or  war ;  to  avert  disease, 
or  to  cure  the  sick.  He  does  not  pray  that  he  shall  be 
made  better  morally  or  that  his  soul  shall  be  fitted  for 
the  companionship  of  noble  spirits  in  a  future  life. 

There  are  savage  regions,  where  the  man  prays  every 
morning  when  he  rises  from  his  bed,  before  eating  or 
drinking ;  and  at  the  commencement  of  every  important 
enterprise.  The  Natchez  Indians  prayed  at  least  three 
times  a  day.^  At  all  temples  and  sacred  places  where 
priests  reside  as  custodians,  prayers  are  said  every  morn- 
ing, and  on  the  occasion  of  every  sacrifice.  In  the  Tahi- 
tian  temples,  the  priests,  at  the  commencement  of  their 
adorations,  pray  the  gods  to  wake  up  and  listen  to  the 
solicitations  of  their  worshipers. 

In  Fiji,  when  the  water  is  to  be  poured  on  the  ava,  in 
preparation  for  drinking,  a  herald  cries  out,  "  Prepare  a 
libation  to  the  chiefs  who  died  on  the  water  or  on  the 
land.  Be  gracious,  ye  lords,  ye  gods,  that  the  rain  may 
come."^  Before  a  Samoan  nobleman  takes  his  evening 
drink  of  ava,  he  pours  out  a  few  drops  to  the  spirits,  and 
prays,  "Here  is  ava  for  you,  O  ye  sea  gods;  stay 
away  from  us."'  The  following  is  a  Huron  prayer :  "O 
thou  god,  who  dwellest  in  this  spot,  accept  this  tobacco ; 
help  us  on  our  voyage ;  save  us  from  shipwreck ;  de- 
fend us  from  our  enemies ;  give  us  a  prosperous  trade 
and  bring  us  back  safe  to  our  village." 

Before  the  god,  as  before  the  despotic  chief,  the  man 
assumes  an  attitude  of  submission.  Captives  in  war 
throw  themselves  flat  upon  the  ground,  and  are  taken 
with  hands  bound   before   the  chief,  and  compelled  to 


SEC.    130.    TOTEMISM.  265 

kneel  before  him  until  he  decides  their  fate;  and  so  the 
worshiper  lies  down,  or  kneels  with  uplifted  hands.* 
In  some  tribes,  the  subject  when  entering  the  chiefs 
house  must  wear  no  clothing  under  which  a  club  can  be 
concealed,  and  the  worshiper  must  enter  the  temple  with 
his  head  or  his  feet,  and  in  some  places  with  the  upper 
part  of  his  body  bare. 

The  postures  in  prayer  are  far  from  uniform.  The 
most  singular  is  that  attributed  by  rumor  to  the  Dokos, 
for  they  have  never  been  observed  by  an  intelligent  trav- 
eler in  their  own  country.  It  is  said  that  when  they 
pray,  they  stand  on  their  heads  and  rest  their  feet  against 
a  tree  or  rock.' 

Sec.  130.  Totcmisui. — Totemism,  the  worship,  by  a 
community,  of  a  guardian  spirit  which  makes  its  home  in 
some  natural  object  or  phenomenon,  is  a  feature  of  soul- 
worship.  It  has  its  origin,  and  reaches  its  highest  devel- 
opment in  the  feminine  clan,  of  which  it  is  an  essential 
element.  It  exists  among  the  non-tilling  Australians  ;  it 
is  prominent  among  the  tilling  Redmen.  Most  clans 
which  have  totems,  have  no  regular  system  of  clan  wor- 
ship. They  recognize  their  totem  as  sacred ;  they  do 
not  kill,  hurt,  or  eat  it ;  they  treat  it  in  action  and  speech 
with  reverence ;  but  they  pay  no  further  attention  to  it. 

The  survivals  of  totemism  in  religion  are  found  over  a 
large  part  of  the  earth.  In  portions  of  Polynesia,  the 
gods  or  guardian  spirits  are  conceived  as  brutes.^  Ser- 
pents were  worshiped  by  the  Aztecs,  Quichuans,  Caribs, 
ancient  Egyptains  and  Babylonians,  as  they  are  by  many 
Africans.^ 

The  ancestral  .spirits  sometimes  pass  into  brutes  which 
then  become  .sacred.  The  Sumatrans  believe  that  timers 
are  pos.se.s.sed  by  the  souls  of  human  beings.^     In  Cala- 


266  A    HISTORY    OF   MANKIND. 

bar,  crocodiles  are  supposed  to  enjoy  a  similar  honor.* 
In  Tlascala,  the  souls  of  nobles  enter  into  beautiful  birds  ; 
those  of  the  rabble  into  small  quadrupeds  and  beetles.* 
The  Zulus  say  their  ancestors  have  changed  themselves 
into  serpents.®  The  Kamtschatkans  pray  to  the  wolves 
and  bears;'  the  Chippeways  and  Ostyaks  beg  pardon  of  a 
bear  for  killing  him  ;  and  the  Kaffirs,  Dyaks,  Sumatrans, 
Kukis,  and  some  Arab  tribes,  after  killing  a  large  wild 
animal,  propitiate  its  spirit  by  a  feast  in  its  honor.^  It  is 
supposed,  by  many  tribes,  that  sorcerers  can  convert 
themselves  at  will  into  carnivorous  beasts.® 

The  Congoese  and  Damaras,'®  and  land  Dyaks,"  have 
sacred  trees  before  Avhich  they  make  offerings  of  food 
and  drink  to  the  spirit  occupants.  The  date  palm 
was  sacred  to  the  Assyrians,'^  coca  to  the  Quichuans,^* 
and  soma  to  the  ancient  Hindoos  and  Persians,  as 
ava  is  to  the  Polynesians,  and  tobacco  to  the  Redmen 
east  of  the  Mississippi. 

Sec.  131.  Fetishism. — A  step  higher  than  totemism  in 
the  growth  of  religion  is  fetishism,  or  devotion  to  a  nat- 
ural, or  rudely-shaped  artificial  object,  as  the  abode  of 
the  special  guardian  spirit  of  the  devotee.  The  totem  is 
the  divinity  of  a  clan  ;  the  fetish  is  that  of  an  individual. 
The  non-tilling  Australians,  Tasmanians,  and  Lower 
Californians  have  risen  to  the  conception  of  the  former 
and  not  of  the  latter.  The  tilling  Redmen  have  both. 
Among  the  latter  every  youth  must  select  his  fetish  or 
"  medicine  "  before  he  reaches  his  eighteenth  year.  He 
must  go  off  into  some  place  where  he  will  probably  see 
no  human  being,  and  there  must  stay,  abstaining  from  all 
food  and  drink,  until  in  a  dream,  he  sees  an  animal  or 
plant  suitable  for  his  fetish.  Then  he  can  return  to  his 
village  and  eat.     So  soon  as  possible  he  must  obtain  a 


SEC.    131.    FETISHISM.  26/ 

sample  of  his  fetish,  get  it  or  part  of  it  in  a  portable  and 
durable  form,  attach  it  to  a  string,  carry  it  round  his 
neck,  and  never  part  with  it.  Its  loss  means  disgrace 
and  ruin  to  him.  He  must  be  faithful  to  it  so  long  as 
he  lives.  He  prays  to  it,  makes  offerings  to  it,  and 
attributes  to  it  all  his  success  in  life.  If  his  fetish  be 
an  animal,  he  must  not  kill  or  hurt  any  of  its  species. 
In  his  religion,  it  is  much  more  prominent  than  his 
totem. 

The  fetish  of  the  negro  is  selected  without  fasting, 
dreaming,  or  long  consideration,  and  may  be  changed 
repeatedly.  In  many  cases  it  is  a  stone  or  shell  selected 
because  of  something  striking  in  its  color  or  shape.  It 
may  be  carried  on  the  person,  or  kept  in  the  hut.  The 
worshiper  decorates  it,  sets  offerings  before  it,  and  prays 
to  it ;  but  his  devotion  is  usually  measured  by  his  suc- 
cess. If  he  should  be  overtaken  by  misfortunes,  he  not 
unfrequently  strips  the  ornaments  from  his  fetish,  curses 
it,  defiles  it,  whips  it,  and  throws  it  out  as  useless  rub- 
bish.    Then  he  is  ready  to  install  another  in  its  place. ^ 

If  a  negro  has  been  very  successful  in  some  difficult 
enterprise,  the  result  is  attributed  to  the  aid  of  a  mighty 
fetish ;  if  on  the  contrary  he  has  failed  ignominiously, 
people  say  he  has  a  very  weak  fetish.  When  Captain 
Tuckcy  was  exploring  the  lower  Congo,  a  native  chief 
told  him  that  his  fetish  would  kill  anyone  who  shot  at 
it ;  and  thereupon  the  Englishman  offered  to  shoot  at  it. 
This  offer  was  accepted,  but  before  the  shot  was  fired,  the 
chief  withdrew  his  acceptance,  for  the  reason  that  Tuckey 
had  the  more  powerful  fetish,  and  that  the  chief  after  his 
fetish  had  been  defeated  and  discredited,  would  be  at- 
tacked and  plundered  by  his  neighbors. 

Some  Rcdmcn  regard  .special   trees  as  their  fetishes, 


268  A   HISTORY   OF   MANKIND. 

decorate  them  with  strips  of  bright  cloth,  hang  pieces  of 
meat  as  offerings  on  the  boughs,  and  occasionally  climb 
up  into  the  branches  and  there  sing  songs  of  praise  to 
the  spirit. 

Every  guardian  spirit,  not  ancestral,  partakes  of  the 
nature  of  fetishism.  When  a  Samoan  child  is  to  be 
born,  the  names  of  various  gods  are  called  out  in  succes- 
sion at  brief  intervals,  and  the  one  last  mentioned  before 
the  birth  is  the  guardian.^  In  part  of  Mexico,  under 
similar  circumstances,  the  figures  of  various  animals 
are  drawn  on  the  ground  and  rubbed  out,  and  the  one 
visible  at  the  time  of  parturition  is  the  patron  divinity.^ 

Some  tribes  of  Northern  Asia  have  a  form  of  fetishism 
known  as  shamanism,  in  which  the  spirits  dwelling  in 
natural  objects  are  the  friends  or  servants  of  shamans  or 
fetishistic  priests.''  Laymen  cannot  communicate  di- 
rectly with  the  invisible  powers  but  must  do  so  through 
the  priests,  who  have  an  imposing  ceremonial  with 
which  they  gain  the  faith  and  tribute  of  the  multitude. 

It  was  under  the  influence  of  fetishism,  that  in  the  last 
century,  the  Norwegian  peasants  had  a  custom  of  bring- 
ing into  the  house  any  stone  of  remarkably  handsome 
shape,  and  treating  it  as  a  fetish.  They  anointed  it  with 
butter,  wet  it  with  ale,  and  expected  it  to  bring  them 
luck  in  reward  for  their  attention.  Some  of  the  Irish  in 
our  own  century  have  had  similar  observances.^ 

All  fetish  worshipers  distinctly  understand  that  their 
devotions  are  paid  to  the  spirit  residing  in  the  material 
object.  The  conception  of  the  soul,  as  distinct  from  the 
body,  is  as  clear  to  them  as  to  any  civilized  theologian. 
Certain  African  tribes  will  not  accept  a  fetish  until  a 
priest  has  consecrated  it  with  his  mummeries  and  thus 
introduced  a  divinity.     In  the  conception  of  their  sacred- 


SEC.    132.    ANCESTOR   WORSHIP.  269 

ness,  such  fetishes  differ  Httle  from  the  amulets,  worn  in 
man}'  Christian  countries. 

Sec.  132.  Ancestor  Worship. — After  the  mascuhne 
clan  had  been  established,  men  began  to  pay  their  devo- 
tions to  their  male  ancestors  in  the  direct  male  line ;  and 
for  a  long  period  this  ancestor  worship  was  the  most 
wide-spread  and  most  prominent  feature  of  religion.  It 
is  universal  among  tilling  tribes  with  masculine  descent  ;^ 
it  prevailed  among  the  ancient  Egyptains,  Greeks,  Ro- 
mans, Teutons,  Gauls,'^  and  Persians,  and  it  exists  now 
among  the  Brahifiins,  Chinese,  and  Japanese.  That  it 
was  known  to  the  ancient  Hebrews  is  implied  by  a  verse 
in  Deuteronomy,  requiring  the  person,  who  makes  an  of- 
fering, to  declare  that  it  is  not  for  the  dead.* 

With  the  recognition  of  the  ancestor  as  the  chief  ob- 
ject of  devotion,  the  spirit  and  the  method  of  worship 
changed.  Affection  and  confidence  succeeded  to  doubt 
and  fear ;  vagueness  gave  way  to  clearness  in  the  con- 
ception of  the  divinity  ;  and  the  domestic  fire,  the  gra\'e 
of  the  ancestor,  the  hut  o\cr  his  tomb,  and  the  temple 
developed  out  of  it,  became  the  scenes  of  ceremonies 
that  grew  more  elaborate  and  more  imposing.  The 
male  of  the  family  was  the  priest  of  the  domestic  worship. 
He  represented  not  himself  only,  but  also  those  who 
went  before  and  those  who  had  come  or  were  to  come 
after  him.  He  recited  prayers ;  he  chanted  hymns  ;  he 
made  offerings  of  food,  drink,  clothes,  weapons,  tools, 
flowers,  and  incense;  he  sacrificed  beasts,  slaves,  and 
wives.  The  principal  site  of  this  worship  is  the  kitchen 
hearth.  The  household  fire  is  the  favorite  dwelling 
place  of  the  ancestral  spirits.* 

It  is  a  common  practice  to  chant  the  praises  of  the  de- 
ceased at  his  funeral,*  and  in  some  tribes,  the  relatives 


270  A    HISTORY    OF    MANKIND. 

repair  daily  for  weeks,  to  the  grave  at  sunrise  and  sunset, 
to  repeat  their  songs ;  or  they  repeat  them  whenever 
they  pass  near  the  grave,  in  the  period  of  mourning.® 
They  also  offer  prayers  there.  The  chief  is  regarded  as 
the  father  of  the  village,  clan,  or  tribe,  and  after  his 
death  everyone  of  his  subjects  can  apply  to  his  spirit  for 
aid.' 

In  systematic  ancestral  worship,  the  divinity  and  the 
worshiper  are  always  males.  Women  have  no  share  in 
this  religion.  They  must  preserve  and  guard  the  fire, 
but  they  cannot  offer  acceptible  sacrififces  nor  make  po- 
tent prayers.  The  blood  requisite  for  sacerdotal  func- 
tions does  not  run  in  their  veins.  They  live  without  di- 
vine communication  ;  they  are  buried  without  ceremony. 

Sec.  133.  Offerings. — The  spirits  and  gods  to  whom 
offerings  are  made,  consume  not  the  material  substance 
but  the  spiritual  essence.  The  food  placed  on  the  grave 
or  in  the  temple  is  enjoyed  by  the  resident  spirit,  just  as 
a  saddle  of  venison  would  be  eaten  by  the  warrior  in 
whose  tent  it  had  been  hung  up.  The  dead  have  their 
homes,  and  their  property  rights.  Food  for  the  soul  is 
placed  near  the  corpse  before  or  after  burial,  by  the 
Polynesians,  Micronesians,  Melanesians,  Brazilians,  Ka- 
rens, Redmen,  and  Africans.  In  most  tribes,  the  provis- 
ions are  supplied  for  only  a  day  or  two.  The  belief  pre- 
vails that,  after  the  spirit  has  become  familiar  with  its 
new  home,  it  can  supply  its  wants  with  less  effort  than  it 
could  in  the  material  life.  But  even  after  it  can  obtain 
sufficient  food  by  its  own  exertion,  it  likes  to  be  invited 
to  an  occasional  feast  by  its  surviving  relatives.  The 
Tahitians  touch  the  lips  of  the  corpse  several  times  daily 
with  food.  The  Mosquito  widow  carries  food  to  the 
grave  of  her  husband,  at  intervals  for  a  year,^     The  Ka- 


SEC.     133.    OFFERINGS.  IJl 

rens  of  Northern  Bengal,  and  the  Bareas  of  Eastern  Africa 
have  an  annual  feast  at  which  food  is  set  out  for  the 
dead.'^  The  ancient  Persians,  Gauls,  and  Romans,  the 
Aztecs  and  Quichuans  had,  and  the  Chinese  now  have, 
this  custom.  The  food  should  be  of  the  most  savory 
kind,  and  in  amount  equal  to  the  quantity  that  the  per- 
son ate  at  a  meal  when  alive.  Fermented  drinks  and 
narcotics  are  also  needed  by  the  spirits,  and  are  supplied 
to  them.  In  Bonny,  where  the  corpse  is  buried  under 
the  hut,  which  the  family  continues  to  occupy,  the  m:ui 
must  not  start  out  in  the  morning  without  pouring  a  li- 
bation of  beer  down  a  pipe  that  leads  into  the  coffin.* 
As  the  spirit  eats  only  the  essence  of  the  offering,  the 
preservation  of  the  material  substance  of  the  food  is  not 
necessary  ;  and  some  tribes  after  presenting  their  offering 
at  the  grave,  burn  it  there.  Thus  the  Nootka  Indians 
burn  salmon  and  venison  at  the  grave.*  Other  tribes, 
after  giving  the  spirits  a  chance  to  enjoy  the  essence  of 
the  offering,  themselves  eat  the  substance. 

Offerings  of  food  to  the  spirits  are  often  made  at  the 
commencement  of  a  meal.  A  bit  of  meat  is  thrown  into 
the  fire  or  on  the  ground,  and  some  drops  of  any  favor- 
ite beverage  are  poured  out,  with  a  reverent  air,  and 
with  or  without  an  invocation  to  the  spirits.  In  Samoa, 
it  is  sufficient  to  wave  the  cup  towards  the  heavens,  thus 
giving  the  spirits  the  first  opportunity  to  drink. ^ 

As  the  soul  needs  food  in  its  new  home,  so  it  needs 
clothes,  weapons,  ornaments,  and  servants.  The  Pata- 
gonians  open  the  graves  once  a  year  to  put  in  new  gar- 
ments for  the  dead.''  As  the  food  may  be  burned  to  lib- 
erate its  essence,  so  the  weapon  or  jug  may  be  broken,^ 
or  the  clothes  may  be  torn  at  the  grave ;  but  they  must 
be  in  a  good  condition  when  taken  there. 


2/2  A    HISTORY    OF    MANKIND. 

Sec.  134.  Sacrifices. — Since  the  body  of  the  man  must 
die  before  his  soul  can  estabHsh  itself  in  the  world  of 
spirits,  so  the  dog  or  horse  that  is  to  accompany  him 
and  serve  him  there,  must  be  slain.  There  are  various 
methods  of  despatching-  the  animals,  the  most  common 
being  those  used  when  slaughtering  for  the  table.  The 
Moluches  tie  a  horse  to  a  stake  at  the  grave  and  let  him 
starve  to  death.  The  pig  destined  to  feed  the  Vatean 
spirit  is  tied  to  the  wrist  of  the  corpse  and  then  killed, 
the  tying  being  intended  to  show  ownership  and  to  pre- 
vent other  spirits  from  claiming  the  food.^  In  Greenland, 
a  dog's  head  is  buried  with  the  child  to  serve  as  a 
guide  and  companion  for  the  little  one  in  crossing  the 
dark  place  on  the  way  to  the  world  of  light."  The  Todas 
kill  all  a  man's  cattle  at  his  burial.^  Among  the  tribes 
which  sacrifice  animals  at  the  grave,  are  the  Patagonians,* 
Araucans,*  Charruas,"  Mbayas,^  Abipones,  Comanches, 
Pawnees,  Chinooks,  Walla  Wallas,  Kaffirs,  Fipas,  Wa- 
gogos,  Yakoots,  and  Kirghiz.  This  custom  continued 
long  after  man  had  risen  above  savagism,  and  existed 
among  the  barbarous  Gauls,  Teutons,  and  Aztecs.  In 
1 78 1,  a  horse  was  slain  at  a  burial  in  Germany.  The 
sacrifice  of  animals  and  slaves  has  its  survival  in  the  Jap- 
anese custom  of  putting  little  images  of  beasts  and  men 
on  the  graves,  and  in  the  Chinese  custom  of  burning  pa- 
per figures  of  such  sacrifices. 

Blood  being  regarded  as  intimately  associated  with  the 
life,  is  the  most  precious  part  of  the  sacrifice,  and  is  con- 
sidered especially  acceptable  to  the  spirits.  It  must  be 
put  upon  the  altar,  or  smeared  over  it,  or  over  the  faces 
and  especially  the  mouths  of  the  idols. 

Among  savages,  as  among  people  in  more  advanced- 
culture,  the  meat  offered  in  sacrifice,  may  afterwards  be 


SEC.    135.    HUMAN    SACRIFICES.  2/3 

eaten  by  men.  If  the  sacrifice  be  made  in  a  temple,  cus- 
tom determines  how  much  belongs  to  the  worshiper  and 
how  much  to  the  priest,  and  each  may  carry  away  and 
eat  or  sell  his  share.  The  temple  becomes  a  slaughter 
house  ;  the  priests  are  dealers  in  butcher's  meat.  The 
givers  of  liberal  gifts  are  treated  as  persons  secure  of  di- 
vine favor ;  those  who  are  unable  or  unwilling  to  make 
sacrifices  are  represented  as  proper  objects  of  divine 
wrath. 

Sec.  135.  Human  Sacj^ificcs. — The  same  reasons  which 
suggested  the  sacrifice  of  animals  at  graves,  led  to  the 
sacrifice  of  human  beings  there.  This  custom  has  ex- 
isted  in  recent  or  modern  times  among  the  Iddahs,^ 
Bakutos,"  Wanyoros,^  Bafiotes,*  Congoese,"  Yorubas,® 
Ashantees,  Dahomans,'  Kaffirs,*  Dakotas,  Chinooks, 
Guaranis,  Fijians,  New  Caledonians,  Aneitums,  Tongans, 
Hawaiians,  and  Tahitians.  Custom  in  Unyoro  requires 
that  with  the  deceased  head  chief,  several  hundred  per- 
sons, after  their  legs  and  arms  have  been  broken,  shall 
be  buried  alive.'  Not  many  generations  have  elapsed 
since  ten  slave  girls  were  slain  and  put  into  the  grave 
with  the  corpse  of  the  wife  of  a  Kaffir  chief.  The  cere- 
mony of  sacrificing  servants  to  accompany  a  deceased 
head  chief  in  Bambarra,  is  thus  described  by  Cameron  •}^ 
"  The  first  proceeding  is  to  divert  the  course  of  a  stream, 
and  in  its  bed  to  dig  an  enormous  pit,  the  bottom  of 
which  is  then  covered  with  living  women.  At  one  end 
a  woman  is  placed  on  her  hands  and  knees,  and  upon 
her  back  the  dead  chief,  covered  with  his  beads  and 
other  treasures,  is  seated,  being  supported  on  either  side 
by  one  of  his  wives,  while  his  second  wife  sits  at  his  feet. 
The  earth  is  then  shoveled  in  on  them,  and  all  the 
women  are  buried  alive  with  the  exception  of  the  second 


2/4  A    HISTORY    OF    MANKIND. 

wife.  To  her,  custom  is  more  merciful  than  to  her  com- 
panions, and  grants  her  the  privilege  of  being  killed  be- 
fore the  huge  grave  is  filled  in.  This  being  completed,  a 
number  of  male  slaves,  sometimes  forty  or  fifty  are 
slaughtered  and  their  blood  poured  over  the  grave  ;  after 
which  the  river  is  allowed  to  resume  its  course.  Stories 
are  rife  that  no  fewer  than  a  hundred  women  were  buried 
alive  with  Bambarre  Kasongo's  father."  In  the  lower 
part  of  the  valley  of  the  Columbia  river,  when  the  daugh- 
ter of  a  chief  dies,  the  corpse  is  put  in  a  canoe  on  a  high 
rock  or  island,  and  tied  to  her,  and  bound  hand  and  foot, 
is  a  live  slave  girl,  who  is  strangled  on  the  third  day. 

In  many  tribes,  public  opinion  requires  the  wives  and 
favorite  slaves  to  accompany  the  husband  and  master  in 
death ;  and  many  of  the  victims  accept  the  sacrifice  will- 
ingly, partly,  perhaps,  because  if  they  could  escape,  they 
would  become  outcasts.  From  those  provinces  of  Hin- 
dostan,  where  suttee  was  prohibited,  in  this  century,  wid- 
ows of  Brahmins  were  for  a  time  in  the  habit  of  accom- 
panying the  corpses  of  their  husbands  into  other  prov- 
inces, where  they  could  be  burned.  The  fear  of  life-long 
disgrace  may  control  some,  while  others  count  confi- 
dently on  relative  happiness  in  the  world  of  spirits  as 
compensation  for  their  obedience  to  the  sacerdotal  com- 
mands in  this  material  sphere.  The  custom  of  slaying 
wives  on  the  grave  of  the  husband  is  common  among 
savage  tribes  that  have  risen  above  the  feminine  clan. 

Human  sacrifices  in  religious  worship  existed  among 
the  Polynesians,  Micronesians,  and  Melanesians  gener- 
ally, among  many  African,  and  some  American,  Malay- 
sian, and  Hindoo  savages,  as  well  as  among  the  barbar- 
ous Aztecs,  Quichuans,  Egyptians,  Phoenicians,  Jews, 
Persians,  Gauls,  and  Teutons,  and  the  civilized  ancient 


SEC.    135.    HUMAN   SACRIFICES,  2^^ 

Greeks  and  Romans.  When  the  Polynesians  held  great 
festivities  and  sought  to  make  themselves  especially  dear 
to  the  gods,  and  when  in  times  of  serious  public  disaster, 
they  Avished  to  give  solemnity  to  the  general  lamentation 
and  to  propitiate  the  offended  divinities,  men  were  slain  in 
the  temples.  Human  sacrifices  to  the  gods  of  agricult- 
ure are  or  have  been  made  by  the  Khonds,^^  Nagas,^'' 
Lagos,^^  Congoese/*  and  Pawnees.  The  tribe  last  named 
sacrificed  a  captive  Dakota  girl  in  1837.  After  they  had 
shot  many  arrows  into  her  body,  and  while  she  was  still 
alive,  they  cut  pieces  of  flesh  from  her  body  and  squeezed 
out  the  blood  on  the  newly-planted  hills  of  maize. ^*  Since 
the  time  when  the  Khonds  have  been  forbidden  to  propi- 
tiate the  gods  by  human  sacrifices,  they  make  cakes  of 
dough  or  clay  in  the  shape  of  men,  and  cut  off  their 
heads. ^^  A  human  sacrifice  is  offered  by  the  Yorubas 
when  they  start  out  on  a  military  expedition,"  by  the 
Kimbaras  when  they  install  a  new  chief,'*  by  the  Wanika 
when  they  admit  a  party  of  young  men  into  the  rank  of 
the  warriors/®  and  by  the  Fijians  when  they  launch  a  ca- 
noe or  when  they  congratulate  a  young  prince  upon 
reaching  the  age  of  manhood.^"  In  1861,  B.  Seeman  per- 
suaded the  head  chief  of  Fiji  to  spare  about  five  hundred 
inhabitants  of  a  rebellious  village,  whose  sacrifice  had 
been  ordered,  for  the  purpose  of  giving  lustre  to  a  festival 
in  honor  of  the  arrival  of  his  eldest  son  at  his  majority. 
Ancient  custom  had  provided  that  at  the  most  import- 
ant moment  of  the  ceremony,  the  prince  should  stand  on 
the  breast  of  a  prostrate  living  slave,  lying  on  the  apex 
of  a  pyramid  of  corpses  of  men  slain  for  the  occasion."^ 
The  most  extensive  recent  human  sacrifices  have  been 
those  of  Dahomey  and  Ashantee,  in  each  of  which  coun- 
tries, the  annual  number  of  victims  was  not  less  than  two 


276  A    HISTORY    OF    MANKIND. 

hundred,  and  according  to  some  authorities,  much  larger. 
In  the  former  country,  the  sacrifices  are  made  in  consid- 
erable numbers  at  a  few  festivals  and  especially  on  the 
anniversary  of  the  death  of  the  last  king,  when  a  feast  of 
blood  is  set  out  for  the  souls  of  the  royal  family.  In 
Ashantee,  a  human  victim  is  sacrificed  on  each  of  seven 
days  out  of  eight  so  that  there  are  about  three  hundred 
and  twenty  in  a  year.  In  Florida  the  first  born  son  was 
sacrificed  to  the  sun,  and  children  were  sacrificed  to  the 
spirits  in  New  England,  Virginia,  and  Dakota.^'  At 
Benin,  a  young  woman  is  lashed  to  a  platform  on  a  tall 
tree  to  be  eaten  by  vultures ;  and  the  Bonny  fishermen 
tic  a  human  victim  to  a  stake,  between  low  and  high  tide, 
so  that  when  the  water  rises,  a  shark  may  come  in  and 
eat  him."  The  gods  occupy  the  bodies  of  these  vultures 
and  sharks.  Among  the  tribes  which  have  continued  to 
sacrifice  human  victims  until  recent  times  in  Hindostan 
are  the  Oryssas.^* 

Human  sacrifices  in  temples  differ  little  in  motive^ 
from  the  slaughter  of  wives,  slaves,  and  friends  at  the 
grave  of  the  chiefs.  The  two  customs  are  intimately  as- 
sociated. One  provides  food  and  the  other  service,  for 
the  gods.  Both  are  intended  to  conciliate  supernatural 
powers.  The  original  suggestion  of  sacrifice  of  human 
beings  is  to  be  found  in  cannibalism.  That  meat,  which 
is  most  costly  and  therefore  most  delightful  to  warriors, 
is  demanded  by  the  gods.  They,  like  their  worshipers, 
delight  in  the  destruction  of  the  souls  of  their  enemies. 

Since  we  know  that  human  sacrifice  in  religion  is  a 
consequence  of  reputable  cannibalism  in  private  life,  the 
question  arises  why  the  effect  did  not  cease  with  its  orig- 
inal cause.  It  was  because,  in  the  meantime,  other 
influences  had  become  potent.     Change    could  operate 


SEC.    135.    HUMAN    SACRIFICES.  2// 

much  more  quickly  in  social  life  than  in  religion.  Many 
centuries  after  the  advance  of  culture  had  driven  canni- 
balism into  desuetude  and  discredit  in  tropical  Polynesia, 
Carthage,  Phoenicia,  Persia,  Greece,  Rome,  Gaul  and 
Germany,  Mexico  and  Peru,  so  many  centuries  that  the 
tradition  of  the  ancient  custom  had  been  forgotten,  and 
the  people  did  not  suppose  that  their  ancestors  had  ever 
feasted  on  cooked  men,  the  custom  of  human  sacrifices 
continued  in  those  countries  and  in  most  of  them  on  an 
extensive  scale.  The  ecclesiastical  custom  remained  the 
same  but  the  explanation  of  it  was  different.  In  the 
earlier  ages,  the  reason  for  the  sacrifice  was  that  as  the 
spirits  and  gods  were  hungry  and  as  human  flesh  was  a 
luxury,  so  men  must  be  sacrificed  in  the  temples.  But 
when  men  learned  to  look  upon  feasts  of  human  flesh 
with  disgust  and  horror,  that  explanation  would  no  longer 
serve.  The  priests  however,  as  a  class,  would  not  admit 
that  they  or  their  predecessors  in  office  had  belied  the 
gods.  They  understood  that  tlieir  p.)\vcr  and  profit 
depended,  to  a  large  extent,  on  their  success  in  convinc- 
ing the  multitude  that  their  gods  had  not  changed  in 
character,  and  that  their  corporation  had  always  acted 
with  divine  authority.  With  popular  credulity  and  gov- 
ernmental power  to  aid  them  they  found  no  great  diffi- 
culty in  this  task.  Acting  on  this  policy,  they  asserted 
that  the  gods  never  wanted  to  be  fed  on  human  flesh  or 
blood  ;  that  the  doctrine  of  giving  such  food  never  was  a 
material  part  of  their  ecclesiastical  system  ;  and  that  the 
only  purpose  of  the  custom  was  to  fill  the  people  with 
the  ideas  that  tlie  gods  were  entitled  to  the  most  precious 
of  all  sacrifices,  and  that  it  was  the  duty  of  the  worshipers 
to  make  the  most  trying  f)f  ail  penances  with  human  life. 
When  the  priest  dipped  Ins  finger  into  the  blood  of  the 


2/8  A   HISTORY    OF   MANKIND. 


slaughtered  man  and  put  it  into  his  mouth  that  was  a 
penance  for  him/^ 

In  New  Zealand  and  Fiji,  the  most  precious  morsel  in 
the  cannibal  feast  was  the  left  eye,  because  it  was  sup- 
posed to  be  the  seat  of  the  victim's  soul,  which  would 
unite  with  and  strengthen  that  of  the  eater.  It  was 
therefore  given  to  the  person  highest  in  rank  at  the  feast. 
In  Tahiti  and  Hawaii,  men  had  ceased  to  eat  human  flesh 
when  Cook  was  there,  but  after  a  man  was  sacrificed  in  a 
temple,  his  left  eye  was  handed  to  the  head  chief,  who 
made  a  motion  as  if  he  would  eat  it  and  then  gave  it 
back  to  the  priest.  The  meaning  of  this  ceremony  had 
been  forgotten  by  the  people,  and  the  Tahitian,  who 
went  with  Cook  to  New  Zealand,  was  struck  with  horror 
when  he  saw  the  Maoris  there  eat  their  fellow-men.  He 
did  not  know  that  his  ancestors  had  been  cannibals. 

Another  class  of  human  victims  may  be  mentioned 
here,  those  sacrificed  to  watch  or  defend  buildings,  towns, 
or  boats.  In  many  tribes  of  Africa,  Melanesia,  and  Ma- 
laysia, custom  requires  that  under  every  post  of  a  town 
gate  or  of  a  cliief  s  dwelling,  a  slave,  dead  or  alive,  shall 
be  buried.  In  portions  of  Melanesia,  a  war  canoe  is  not 
fit  for  use  until  it  has  been  consecrated  by  the  slaughter 
of  a  slave.  He  may  be  slain  so  that  his  blood  shall  flow 
over  and  wash  its  upper  surface,  or  he  may  be  used  as  a 
roller  and  crushed  to  death  while  it  is  being  launched. 
The  spirit  of  the  victim  becomes  the  guardian  of  the 
structure.^® 

Sec.  136.  Gods. — The  first  divinity  was  a  disembodied 
soul,  the  second  a  male  ancestor  in  the  direct  male 
line,  the  third  a  deceased  chief  When  political  organi- 
zation became  compact,  the  able  despotic  ruler  was  re- 
garded in  some  sense  as  the  father  of  the  tribe.     If  he 


SEC.    136.    GODS.  279 

had  given  a  superior  military  training  to  his  warriors, 
and  had  increased  the  power  and  wealth  of  his  tribe,  he 
would  be  looked  upon  as  divine  in  his  character.  He 
would  receive  the  adoration  of  his  subjects.  Savages 
worship  easily.  From  man  to  god  is  a  small  step  for 
them.  It  is  a  step  that  every  brave  warrior  takes  when 
he  dies. 

The  son  and  successor  of  a  chief,  who  had  been  a  great 
military  leader,  would  perceive  that  the  public  worship 
of  his  father  by  the  whole  community,  under  the  super- 
intendence of  an  organized  priesthood,  dependent  on  him 
for  support,  and  scattered  through  the  country  so  as  to 
come  in  contact  with  all  the  people,  would  add  greatly 
to  his  political  power.  It  would  then  be  his  policy  to 
strengthen  this  priesthood  and  to  weaken  every  other. 
Under  such  influences,  tribal  worships  and  divinities 
gradually  encroached  upon  and  superseded  the  house- 
hold religions.  In  some  conquering  tribe,  a  priest  em- 
ployed in  the  worship  of  a  chief  long  dead,  asserted  that 
his  divinity  had  always  been  a  celestial  spirit.  This  idea 
was  accepted  by  the  people  because  it  was  more  worthy 
of  their  dignity  than  devotion  to  a  disembodied  human 
5oul.  Thus  another  step  was  taken  in  the  development 
of  religion. 

In  war,  the  gods  are  mterestcd  as  well  as  the  men. 
If  a  chief  carries  his  victories  far,  and  understands  well 
the  interest  of  his  dynasty,  he  takes  care  that  his  power 
shall  be  fortified  by  .cacerdotal  influence.  A  good  exam- 
ple, of  the  union  of  Church  and  State  in  savagism,  is 
found  in  the  history  of  the  Hawaiian  group,  every  island 
of  which  had  at  least  one  independent  chief  and  indepen- 
dent religion,  when  Kamehamcha  I.  began  his  conquer- 
ing career  in  the  last  century.     After  his  royal  authority 


280  A    HISTORY    OF    MANKIND. 

had  been  established  over  the  entire  group,  in  1795,  he 
raised  his  family  god  Tairi  to  the  position  of  supreme 
national  divinity,  moved  all  the  idols  of  the  local  divini- 
ties to  Tairi's  temple,  compelled  all  the  priests  to  devote 
themselves  to  Tairi's  worship,  and  required  them  to  act 
as  part  of  his  police/ 

The  highest  conception  of  divinity,  found  among  sav- 
ages, is  that  of  the  Tahitians.  They  have  a  supreme 
deity  who  created  the  universe.  He  also  created  an  im- 
mense number  of  inferior  gods,  including  one  for  every 
island,  mountain,  valley,  planet,  star,  meteorological  phe- 
nomenon, occupation,  virtue,  vice  and  crime.  He  created 
time.  The  year  is  his  daughter ;  her  children  are 
months,  and  her  grandchildren  days.  The  sea  is  the 
sweat  that  poured  from  him  while  he  was  making  the 
world.  The  sun  is  his  left  eye  and  the  seat  of  his 
soul.  He  pays  no  attention  to  praise  or  prayer.  He 
leaves  the  management  of  human  affairs  to  his  subordi- 
nates. 

The  spirits  of  savagism  rejoice  in  the  victories  and  con- 
quests of  their  worshipers,  and  the  slaughter  of  their 
enemies.  The  excitement  of  battle  is  rapturous  to  them 
as  it  was  to  the  divinities  of  ancient  Egypt  and  Assyria, 
of  Greece  and  Rome,  of  Gaul  and  Germany.  The  sight 
of  the  flowing  blood  gives  delight  to  the  gods  of  Fiji, 
and  to  those  of  Tahiti.''  After  he  has  taken  a  scalp,  the 
Redman  celebrates  his  success  by  a  dance,  in  which  he 
exhibits  his  trophy,  and  thanks  his  fetish  for  granting 
him  success. 

In  cannibal  tribes,  spirits  or  gods,  like  living  men, 
delight  in  feasting  on  human  flesh,  and  demand  frequent 
human  sacrifices.  They  drink  the  blood  of  the  victims  ; 
their  idols  must  be  smeared  over   the  mouth   and  face 


SEC.    136.    GODS.  281 

with  the  fresh  gore.  One  of  the  gods  of  Fiji  is  called 
Brain-eater.  The  priests  bless  the  cannibal  feasts,  par- 
ticipate in  them  and  demand  them  as  necessary  to  do 
honor  to  the  gods. 

In  many  tribes,  the  names  of  the  gods  are  sacred  and 
are  carefully  concealed  from  aliens,  slaves,  commoners, 
women,  and  children — that  is  from  all  who  have  no  right 
to  participate  in  the  divine  worship.  It  is  imagined  that 
he  who  does  not  call  out  the  true  name  of  the  god  can- 
not get  his  attention  or  favor,  and  cannot  make  an  ac- 
ceptable offering ;  and  that  he,  who  has  the  true  name, 
can  get  almost  any  favor.  The  Romans  treated  the  rev- 
elation of  the  name  of  their  national  god,  to  an  enemy, 
as  a  great  crime,  and  they  had  special  rituals  for  enticing 
the  divinity  of  a  hostile  city  to  come  over  to  them,  and 
for  installing  the  god  of  a  conquered  city  in  their  pan- 
theon. 

Under  ordinary  circumstances,  the  mention  of  the 
name  of  Yahveh  was  forbidden  to  the  Jews,  that  of  Osiris 
to  the  ancient  Egyptians,  and  that  of  Brahm  to  the  Hin- 
doos. Many  Arabs  imagine  that  Allah  is  a  mere  title  of 
the  diety,  that  his  true  name  is  known  to  none  save  a 
few  devout  and  learned  men;  and  then  whenever  it  is 
used  in  prayer,  the  favor  solicited  is  always  granted  im- 
mediately. 

The  change  from  the  worship  of  the  ancestors  to  that 
of  the  gods  was  not  abrupt.  The  two  religions  existed 
side  by  side,  for  many  ages  in  harmony.  Between  the 
household  divinities  and  the  tribal  divinities,  there  was 
no  incompatibility  and  scarcely  any  rivalry.  It  was  not 
until  men  rose  above  sav^agism,  that  priests  of  tribal 
gods  obtained  influence  enough  to  suppress  the  adoration 
of  the  ancestral  gods. 


282  A    HISTORY   OF   MANKIND. 

The  savage  is  not  a  monotheist.  Unless  in  rarely- 
exceptional  cases,  he  has  no  conception  of  a  creator  and 
governor  of  the  world,  of  a  great  first  cause  whose  effect 
is  the  universe  with  all  its  laws  and  forces  and  material 
parts.  He  has  no  idea  that  moral  quality  belongs  to 
divine  nature.  He  knows  nothing  of  a  deity  who  looks 
with  equal  favor  on  all  mankind.  He  may  learn  the 
phrase  "  Great  Spirit,"  from  civilized  men  but  he  contin- 
ues to  worship  a  disembodied  soul,  a  fetish  or  tribal 
guardian  spirit,  and  to  believe  in  an  immense  number  of 
divinities. 

Sec.  137.  Idolatiy. — Rudiments  of  idolatry  make  their 
appearance  in  the  feminine  clan,  if  not  earlier.  The  Man- 
dan  widow,  who  has  had  a  good  husband,  saves  his  skull, 
offers  food  to  it  and  talks  to  it,  as  if  his  spirit  were  there. 
The  Hawaiians,  Caribs  and  Andamanese  keep  the  skulls 
of  their  dead  with  reverent  care.^  The  New  Caledonians 
cherish  them  and  make  offerings  to  them.^  The  Yuca- 
tanese  made  idols  in  which  the  skull  of  an  ancestor  occu- 
pied the  place  of  the  head.  The  Aztecs  mixed  the  ashes 
of  their  noble  with  the  clay  of  which  they  made  his  image 
or  statue.^  While  the  body  of  the  Congoese  chief  is  in 
the  hands  of  the  embalmers,  a  wooden  image  of  him  is 
set  up  in  the  palace,  and  offerings  of  food  and  drink  are 
placed  before  it  everyday/  After  the  burial  of  an  Abys- 
sinian, an  image  of  him  is  used  in  the  mourning  cere- 
monies.^ In  portions  of  Melanesia,  offerings  are  made  to 
a  representative  idol  on  the  grave.^  Rude  images  of  the 
dead  are  placed  on  the  graves  of  the  Araucans,  Maoris 
and  some  Redmen.^  The  Ostyak  has  a  wooden  image  of 
his  deceased  father  in  his  hut,  offers  food  to  it  and  wor- 
ships it.^  The  Ostyak  priest  keeps  the  images  of  his  male 
ancestors,  in  the  male  line,  for  several  generations  and, 


SEC.    137.    IDOLATRY.  28 


J 


besides  making  offerings  to  them,  induces  others  to  do 
so.®  When  a  Samoyed  leaves  home,  the  domestic  idol  is 
turned  to  face  the  direction  of  his  journey  and  thus  look 
after  and  guard  him.*°  The  Yoruban  mother,  who  has 
lost  a  child,  carries  a  wooden  image  of  it,  and  offers  food 
to  it  whenever  she  eats."  The  image  of  the  dead  chief 
is  worshiped  in  Hawaii.^*  As  a  general  rule  tribes  which 
worship  ancestors  have  figures  representing  them. 

Idolatry  does  not  appear  in  the  lowest  tribes,  but  it  is 
a  highly  effective  feature  of  ecclesiasticism  among  ad- 
vanced savages.  The  sight  of  the  god  in  human  form, 
the  pompous  ceremonial  worship  before  it,  the  show  of 
devotion  to  it  by  all  in  authority,  and  the  prosperity  and 
power  of  its  chief  worshipers,  impress  the  popular  cre- 
dulity wiih  the  utmost  confidence  in  the  existence  and 
power  of  the  divinity  and  in  the  genuineness  of  the  sacer- 
dotal commission.  The  idolaters  are  proud  of  their  idol- 
atry, and  despise  tribes  which  have  no  idols.  Although 
the  Samoans  have  guardian  spirits,  and  worship  them 
every  day  with  prayers  and  offerings,  yet  because  they 
have  no  images  of  their  gods,  the  idolatrous  Polynesians 
contemptuously  call  them  "  the  godless  Samoans."  '*  In 
Tahiti  some  of  the  idols  are  rude  billets  of  wood,  deco- 
rated with  leaves  and  red  feathers;  others  are  hollow  logs 
filled  with  red  feathers. 

The  idolater  understands  as  well  as  the  fetish  wor- 
shiper, or  even  more  clearly,  that  the  material  portion  of 
the  idol  is  not  divine."  Among  the  higher  savages,  the 
id  A  must  always  be  consecrated,  that  is,  the  divinity 
must  be  persuaded  to  make  his  home  in  it.  Such  in- 
stallation ceremonies  arc  indispensable  to  the  idol  in  Ta- 
hiti, Hawaii,  Tonga,  and  Fiji."  The  religious  idea.?  con- 
nected with  the  use  of  images  of  sacred  characters  in 


284  A    HISTORY   OF    MANKIND. 

ecclesiastical  affairs,  are  substantially  the  same  in  high 
savagism,  in  barbarism  and  in  civilization.  All  distinc- 
tions, to  show  that  one  form  of  devotion  to  images  is 
idolatrous  and  another  is  not,  are  mere  fictions  based  on 
the  necessity  of  finding  excuses  for  adherence  to  the  old 
forms  of  a  discredited  superstition. 

By  black,  yellow,  and  white  men,  in  savagism,  barbar- 
ism, and  civilization,  wherever  ecclesiastical  images  are 
used,  there  the  idols  are  dressed  and  decorated,  and 
lamps  are  burned,  offerings  are  made  and  prayers  are 
said  before  them  in  the  same  spirit  and  with  similar 
ideas.  Everywhere  among  the  worshipers,  one  image 
has  the  repute  of  being  much  more  powerful  than  an- 
other. The  Chinooks  determine  the  relative  values  by 
knocking  the  idols  together  violently;  the  one  that 
breaks  first  is  the  home  of  the  weaker  god.^* 

Everywhere  the  idols  are  blessed  in  prosperity,  and 
in  adversity  are  cursed,  threatened,  despoiled,  defiled, 
whipped,  broken,  and  burned,  or  thrown  away.  It  is  so 
in  Africa,  Polynesia,  Siberia,  China,  and  Italy.  Speaking 
of  some  Siberian  tribes,  Pallas  says:  "  Notwithstanding 
the  veneration  and  respect  which  they  have  for  their 
idols,  the  latter  fare  badly  when  adversity  overtakes  an 
Ostyak,  if  prosperity  does  not  soon  return  to  him.  He 
throws  his  idol  on  the  ground,  beats  it,  curses  it,  and 
breaks  it  into  fragments.  Such  punishments  occur  fre- 
quently; and  such  outbursts  of  wrath  are  observed 
among  all  the  idolatrous  tribes  of  Siberia."" 

Sec.  138.  Divine  Intei'coiirsc. — The  lives  of  savages 
generally  are  full  of  devotional  feeling.  A  prayer  or  a 
sacrifice,  to  secure  divine  favor  or  to  ward  off  wrath, 
precedes  every  important  act.  They  imagine  themselves 
constantly  surrounded  by  watcliful,  jealous  and  punctil- 


SEC.    I3H.    DIVINE    INTERCOURSE.  285 

ious  divinities,  always  ready  to  give  them  signals  of  dan- 
ger, to  reward  attention  and  devotion,  and  to  punish 
neglect  or  deliberate  impiety.  Their  penalties  make  up 
all  the  evil,  and  their  rewards  much  of  the  good  of  life. 
To  the  savage  whose  fetish  is  carried  on  his  person  or 
whose  guardian  spirit  is  domiciled  in  his  hut;  who 
makes  offerings  of  food  and  drink  to  it  at  every  meal ; 
M^ho,  at  the  beginning  of  every  day  and  enterprise,  looks 
for  the  omens  indicating  the  divine  advice  as  to  the 
course  he  shall  pursue ;  whose  soul  frequently,  in  dreams 
leaves  his  body  to  associate  with  excarnated  spirits ;  who 
puts  provisions,  clothing,  and  arms  on  the  graves  of  his 
dead  relatives, — to  the  savage  who  thinks  and  acts  thus, 
the  civilized  man  without  fetish,  guardian  divinity,  omen, 
spirit  intercourse,  or  offerings  at  meals  or  graves,  seems 
a  person  whose  life  has  no  sacred  element ;  a  person 
profane,  groveling,  and  godless. 

In  times  of  adversity,  and  especially  of  general  adver- 
sity, the  devotion  of  the  savage  increases.  Misfortunes 
are  regarded  as  indications  of  divine  wrath.  The  tem- 
ples, in  tribes  which  have  advanced  far  enough  to  have 
such  structures,  are  rebuilt  or  readorned ;  costly  sacri- 
fices are  offered ;  and  long  processions  march  to  the  altars, 
or  even  crawl  on  hands  and  knees,  dragging  heavy 
stones.^  Among  savages  as  among  civilized  people  the 
priests  reap  their   richest   harvest   in   times    of  misery. 

Referring  to  the  Polynesians,  Gerlandsays:  "  Although 
their  moral  feeling  was  slightly  developed,  their  timor- 
ous religious  sensitiveness  had  a  controlling  influence  in 
their  private  and  public  life ;  for  their  simplest  actions 
were  affected  and  guided  by  considerations  relating  to  a 
divine  power.  For  them,  religion  was  the  most  impor- 
tant element  of  existence."'' 


286  A   HISTORY.  OF   MANKIND. 

Writing- of  the  Arabs  in  the  Soudan,  S.  W.  Baker^  tells 
us  that,  "  The  conversation  of  the  Arabs  is  in  the  exact 
style  of  the  Old  Testament.  The  name  of  God  is  coupled 
with  every  trifling  incident  in  life,  and  they  believe  in  the 
continual  action  of  divine,  special  intercourse.  Should  a 
famine  affect  the  country,  it  is  expressed  in  the  stern 
language  of  the  Bible,  'The  Lord  has  sent  a  grievous 
famine  upon  the  land,'  or, '  The  Lord  called  for  a  fam- 
ine and  it  came  upon  the  land.'  Should  their  cattle  fall 
sick,  it  is  considered  to  be  an  affliction  by  divine  com- 
mand ;  or  should  the  flocks  prosper  and  multiply  partic- 
ularly during  one  season,  the  prosperity  is  attributed  to 
special  interference.  Nothing  can  happen  in  the  usual 
routine  of  daily  life,  without  a  direct  connection  with  the 
hand  of  God,  in  the  Arab's  belief 

"  This  striking  similarity  to  the  description  of  the 
Old  Testament  is  exceedingly  interesting  to  a  traveler 
when  residing  among  these  curious  and  original  people. 
With  the  Bible  in  one  hand,  and  these  unchanged  tribes 
before  their  eyes,  there  is  a  thrilling  illustration  of  the 
sacred  record ;  the  past  becomes  present ;  the  veil  of 
three  thousand  years  is  raised,  and  the  living  picture  is  a 
witness  to  the  exactness  of  the  historical  description. 
At  the  same  time,  there  is  a  light  thrown  upon  many 
obscure  passages  in  the  Old  Testament,  by  the  experi- 
ence of  the  present  customs  and  figures  of  speech  of  the 
Arabs,  which  are  precisely  those  which  were  practiced 
at  the  periods  described.  I  do  not  attempt  to  enter 
upon  a  theological  treatise,  therefore  it  is  unnecessary  to 
allude  specially  to  these  particular  points.  The  sudden 
and  desolating  arrival  of  a  flight  of  locusts,  the  plague 
or  any  other  unforeseen  calamity,  is  attributed  to  the 
anger  of  God,  and  is  believed  to  be  the  infliction  of  pun- 


SEC.    139.    WORSHIP.  287 

ishment  upon  the  people  thus  visited,  precisely  as  the 
plagues  of  Egypt  were  specially  inflicted  upon  Pharoah 
and  the  Egyptains.  Should  the  present  history  of  the 
country  be  written  by  an  Arab  scribe,  the  style  of  the 
description  would  be  purely  that  of  the  Old  Testament, 
and  the  various  calamities  or  the  good  fortunes  that  have 
in  the  course  of  nature,  befallen  both  the  tribes  and  in- 
dividuals, would  be  recounted  either  as  special  visitations 
of  divine  wrath  or  blessings  for  good  deeds  performed. 
If  in  a  dream,  a  particular  course  of  action  is  suggested, 
the  Arab  believes  the  God  has  spoken  and  directed  him. 
The  Arab  scribe  or  historian  would  describe  the  event 
as  'the  voice  of  the  Lord,'  [Kallam  el  Allah],  having 
spoken  unto  the  person ;  or  that  'God  appeared  to  him 
in  a  dream'  and  'said.'  Thus,  much  allowance  would 
be  necessary  on  the  part  of  a  European  reader  for  the 
figurative  ideas  and  expressions    of  the  people." 

Sec.  139.  Worship. — Ecclesiastical  ceremonies  grow 
with  theological  conceptions.  The  Australian  is  sur- 
rounded by  malignant  spirits  who  are  conceived  vaguely 
as  taking  no  special  interest  in  any  individual ;  and  he 
rarely  performs  any  act  of  worship.  He  has  no  guardian 
divinity,  or  fetish  ;  and  although  he  has  a  clan  totem,  he 
pays  regard  to  it  only  by  abstaining  from  injuring  or  eat- 
ing it.  The  Redrrian,  in  the  tilling  culturestep,  has  his 
personal  fetish  (selected  in  a  dream)  which  he  carries 
with  liim  always,  to  which  he  frequently  prays  and  makes 
offerings ;  and  besides  he  has  certain  public  ceremonies 
of  adoration  paid  to  his  totem,  and  to  the  spirits  gen- 
erally. In  the  advanced  masculine  clan,  the  savage  drops 
his  totem  and  the  fetish  spirit  selected  in  a  dream.  The 
chief  objects  of  his  worship  now  are  his  male  ancestors 
in  the  direct  male  line.     Mis  grandfather,  his  great-grand- 


288  A    HISTORY   OF    MANKIND. 

father,  and  if  dead,  his  father.  These  ancestors  look 
down  on  him  with  favor,  if  he  pay  popular  devotion  to 
them ;  and  he  looks  up  to  them  with  confidence.  He 
worships  them  regularly  and  publicly ;  in  their  service 
he  employs  priests.  Under  the  dominion  of  a  despotic 
chief,  the  savage  rises  to  the  idea  of  a  tribal  god,  who 
never  was  human,  and  who  must  be  worshiped  with  elab- 
orate ceremonies  and  sacrifices.  The  ancestral  spirits  are 
however,  for  the  advanced  savage,  always  the  main  objects 
of  his  worship. 

In  the  development  of  savage  worship,  the  form  ad- 
vances more  than  the  motive,  but  the  latter  changes  from 
predominant  fear  to  affection.  The  nameless  malignant 
spirit  of  the  Australian  is  regarded  with  terror;  the 
guardian  spirit  of  the  Redman  with  devotion ;  the  ances- 
tral spirit  of  the  Kaffir  or  Tahitian  with  confidence  and 
affection ;  and  the  tribal  god  of  the  Tahitian  or  Hawaiian 
with  awe,  as  an  exalted  being  who  cares  little  for  any 
men  save  the  highest  chiefs. 

The  ceremonies  of  worship  become  complex  as  the 
priests  gain  wealth,  influence  and  education.  The  eccle- 
siastical profession  differentiates  itself  into  numerous 
branches  including  those  of  diviners,  singers,  instru- 
mental musicians,  sacrificers,  custodians  of  sacred  animals, 
and  custodians  and  builders  of  temples.  The  ecclesias- 
tical ceremonies  become  complex  and  pompous,  but  all 
the  main  ideas  of  worship  remain  the  same  as  when  the 
highest  divinity  known  was  a  human  soul. 

The  following  Tahitian  prayer  shows  the  feeling  of  a 
worshiper,  in  the  most  advanced  phase  of  modern  savag- 
ism,  towards  his  divinity :  "  Save  me,  save  me,  O  my  God, 
through  this  night  in  which  the  evil  spirits  have  power. 
Watch  over  me,  O  ray  God !  0  my  Lord !     Protect  me 


SEC.    139.    WORSHIP.  289 

from  sorcery,  from  sudden  death,  from  the  plots  and 
curses  and  secret  trickery  of  my  enemies,  and  from  dis- 
putes about  land  boundaries.  Grant  that  peace  shall 
prevail  round  me  and  mine.  Save  me  from  the  evil  spirit 
who  delights  in  terrifying  mankind,  whose  hair  looks 
like  frightful  bristles.  Grant  that  I  and  my  soul  shall 
live  and  rest  in  quiet  through  this  night,  O  my  God  !  "  ^ 

The  sun  is  regarded  by  nearly  all  savages  as  the  home 
of  spirits,  and  devotion  is  paid  to  it  and  to  fire  as  its  rep- 
resentative. This  worship  of  the  sources  of  heat  and 
light  are  however  in  most  tribes,  not  connected  with  any 
very  definite  ideas.  It  is  little  more  than  empty  ceremony 
based  on  ancient  custom.  At  the  beginning  of  every 
meal,  the  Moqui,  Zuni  and  Pueblo,  and  the  warrior  of 
many  ruder  tribes  in  North  America,  throws  a  bit  of 
food  into  the  fire  as  an  offering."^  The  Chippeways,"' 
Pottawatamies*  and  Natchez^  keep  sacred  fires  burning 
continually,  as  do  the  Congoese,"^  Damaras  and  the 
Dahomans.'  The  name  Cherokee  means  fire ;  the  Mus- 
cogees  say  that  fire  is  their  ancestor ;  and  the  Chicka- 
saws,  using  a  phrase  of  recent  origin,  tell  us  that  the 
Great  Spirit  shows  himself  in  fire.*  The  Creeks,  Chero- 
kees,  Natchez,  Knistenos  and  some  other  tribes  of  Red- 
men  have  a  harvest  festival  at  which  the  old  fires  are 
cjuenched,  the  huts  are  cleaned,  the  people  undergo 
ceremonies  of  purification,  including  the  use  of  bathing, 
fasting,  emetics  and  purges ;  and  when  the  sins  of  the 
people  are  washed  away,  and  all  offenses  save  murder  are 
forgiven,  new  fires  arc  solemnly  kindled  and  the  first 
fruits  of  the  new  crop  are  thrown  into  them.' 

Besides  having  their  sacred  fires,  and  paying  worship 
to  the  sun,  the  Redmen  regard  smoking  as  a  religious 
ceremony,  make  it  a  part  of  their  most  solemn  festiviils. 


290  A   HISTORY   OF   MANKIND. 

and  have  a  sacred  regard  for  the  pipe.  In  many  tribes, 
the  warrior  has  the  exclusive  privilege  of  smoking,  and 
before  beginning  he  looks  up  to  the  sky,  down  to  the 
earth  and  turns  to  the  four  cardinal  points  as  if  calling 
the  attention  of  the  spirits,  in  every  direction,  to  his  piety. 

Since  the  gods,  on  account  of  their  remoteness,  their 
higher  nature  and  their  less  intimate  association  with 
human  life  and  local  affairs,  receive  less  adoration  than 
do  the  souls  of  men,  so  the  sun  is  not  worshiped  as 
much  as  fire ;  and  yet  it  is  or  has  been  adored  by  many 
tribes  in  all  the  larger  divisions  of  the  globe.  Waitz  goes 
so  far  as  to  say  that  it  is  impossible  to  be  a  heathen  with- 
out worshiping  the  sun.^®  The  high  chief  of  the  Natchez 
saluted  the  sun  every  morning,  when  it  rose,  with  three 
long  howls,  blew  tobacco  smoke  towards  it  and  made 
obeisance  to  it."  Though  nominally  Mohammedans, 
the  Bedouins  pay  adoration  to  the  sun." 

Subordinate  chiefs  must  pay  periodical  visits  to  their 
superior  with  tribute,  assurances  of  fidelity  and  demon- 
strations of  submissiveness ;  and  with  the  same  motive, 
after  the  savage  has  a  temple,  he  must  from  time  to  time 
take  offerings  and  pay  adoration  there  to  his  god.  At 
the  outset,  says  Spencer,  *'  presents  to  the  dead  differ 
from  presents  to  the  living  neither  in  meaning  nor  mo- 
tive." If  a  noble,  or  chief,  with  numerous  adherents  or  a 
large  party  go  to  a  distant  temple,  for  the  purpose  of 
worship,  the  journey  becomes  a  pilgrimage.  In  some 
tribes  as  soon  as  they  reach  the  sacred  place,  they  march 
round  it  three  times  "  with  the  sun,"  that  is  with  the 
right  side  nearest  to  the  shrine,  singing  songs  in  praise 
of  the  divinity .^^ 

Since  morality  is  not  a  part  of  savage  religion,  cere- 
monial  observances   have  a  great   relative   prominence. 


SEC.    140.   PRIESTS.  291 

The  chief  offenses  in  the  eyes  of  the  gods,  are  violations 
of  sacerdotal  orders."  Every  disaster  is  considered  a 
divine  retribution  for  some  such  offense.  Among  the 
Zulus,  disease  is  often  attributed  by  the  priest,  to  the  re- 
sentful persecution  of  a  deceased  ancestor  who  has  not 
been  properly  worshiped  by  the  afflicted  descendant. 
The  remedy  prescribed  is  that  the  invalid  must  sing 
songs  of  praise  and  offer  sacrifices  to  the  offended  spirit, 
until  health  returns. 

Nearly  all  savage  tribes  have  regularly  recurring  sacred 
festivals,  and  as  a  general  rule,  the  more  advanced  the 
culture,  the  more  frequent,  the  longer  and  the  more  im- 
posing are  they.  At  the  beginning  of  their  year,  the 
Tahitians  have  a  festival  called  the  renewal  of  the  gods, 
when  the  temples  are  cleaned  and  adorned  ;  the  idols 
are  exposed  to  the  sun,  oiled,  perfumed,  decorated,  car- 
ried about  in  a  procession  with  songs  and  instrumental 
music,  and  replaced ;  after  which  all  the  nobles  sit  down 
to  a  public  feast.  The  beginning  of  the  fishing  season 
and  of  the  harvest  are  also  celebrated  with  much  cere- 
mony;  and  the  first  fish  and  fir«t  fruit  arc  offered  to  the 
gods  in  the  temple.  At  the  end  of  the  year,  farewell 
is  said  to  the  gods  and  they  are  begged  to  return  with 
the  new  year.  A  feast  is  also  set  out  by  relatives  for  the 
spirits  of  all  who  have  died  within  the  preceding  twelve- 
month.'^ 

Sec.  140.  Priests. — Whoever  mediates  or  pretends  to 
mediate,  between  his  fellow-men  and  a  supernatural  being, 
is  a  priest,  no  matter  how  crude  his  faith,  or  how  absurd 
his  ceremonies  may  appear  to  the  civilized  observer.' 
The  professional  expcller  of  evil  .spirits,  the  rain-maker, 
the  discoverer  of  criminals  by  revelation,  the  sorcerer 
who  causes    disease  or  death   by  incantation,  or   saves 


292  A   HISTORY  OF   MANKIND. 

from  the  incantation  of  others,  the  diviner  who  foretells 
the  results  of  projected  enterprisers  by  omens  or  spirit 
communications,  the  wizard  who  calls  the  dead  from 
their  graves,  the  seer  who  converses  with  the  ever-pres- 
ent spirits,  the  prophet  always  authorized  to  explain 
the  wishes  of  the  gods  to  people  and  rulers,  and  the  ec- 
clesiastic who  conducts  the  public  worship  of  his  tribe 
on  important  occasions, — all  these  are  alike  priests,  as 
all  these  acts  are  parts  of  sacerdotal  business,  and  as  all 
the  theories  on  which  those  acts  are  based  are  religious. 
Wherever  there  are  priests,  they  make  a  profit  by  their 
business/ 

In  the  lower  tribes,  including  all  which  have  no  hered- 
itary chiefs,  any  man  may  make  a  profession  of  priest- 
craft, in  any  of  its  departments.  If  successful  in  gaining 
the  confidence  of  the  community,  his  social  position  be- 
comes honorable,  and  his  life  relatively  easy ;  if  unsuc- 
cessful, he  falls  back  into  the  multitude.  The  profit  of 
his  sacerdotal  practice  depends,  among  the  Redmen  and 
Africans,  upon  the  might  of  his  fetish.  He  who  has  a 
large  professional  income  for  several  years  in  consequence 
of  some  lucky  hit,  may  be  thrown  into  discredit  by  some 
notable  failure,  or  by  the  trickery  of  a  more  cunning  or 
more  plausible  rival. 

In  certain  American  tribes,  as  for  instance  among  the 
Dakotas  and  Cheyennes,  the  head  war  chief  must  be  a 
priest ;  and  the  combination  of  political  with  ecclesiasti- 
cal office,  gives  him  much  more  influence  than  is  pos- 
sessed by  other  chiefs  in  the  same  region. 

As  a  general  rule  among  savage  tribes,  as  well  as 
among  barbarous  and  civilized  nations,  democratic  polit- 
ical organizations  are  accompanied  by  weak  ecclesiast- 
ical systems ;  and  despotic  governments,  by  powerful  sac- 


SEC.    140.    PRIESTS.  293 

erdotal  systems.  We  expect  to  find  hereditary  priests 
with  hereditary  nobles ;  and  aristocratic  arrogance  is  as 
great  among  the  sacerdotal  as  among  the  military  chiefs. 

Tribes  with  despotic  government  and  hereditary  no- 
bility usually  have  what  may  be  called  an  established 
church  in  which  the  ecclesiastics  are  of  noble  blood. 
Deriving  a  comfortable  or  luxurious  support  from  their 
office,  they  arrange  its  duties  in  a  routine,  which  a  man 
of  ordinary  capacity  may  learn  without  great  effort. 
Having  no  monopoly  or  ready  control  of  convulsive  and 
hysterical  sensitiveness,  they  treat  it  as  an  inferior  gift  or 
a  sacrilegious  imposture  and,  resenting  the  competition  of 
the  sensitive  sorcerers,  seers  and  prophets,  persecute 
them  as  agents  of  evil  spirits. 

Every  Maori  warrior  is  also  a  priest,  and  in  Samoa, 
there  is  no  priesthood  supported  entirely  by  ecclesiasti- 
cal revenue ;  but  in  the  other  Polynesian  groups,  the  sac- 
erdotal profession  is  the  exclusive  privilege  of  a  heredi- 
tary class  of  nobles  and  is  a  source  of  much  power  and 
profit  to  its  followers.  In  Tahiti,  the  office  of  high 
priest  is  hereditary ;  in  Tonga,  the  high  priest  overshad- 
ows the  political  ruler,  as  it  docs  in  Congo.  In  Obbo, 
Loango,^  part  of  Madagascar,*  h'.bo,  Blantyre,  and  Tanna,* 
the  office  of  high  priest  belongs  to  the  chief,  and  among 
the  Khonds  and  Ashantees,  to  the  family  of  the  chiefs 

In  many  tribes  a  priest  gains  little  influence  and  occu_ 
pation  in  his  profession,  unless  it  is  known  that  he  has 
undergone  an  initiation,  which  may  include  fasting  and 
bleeding  as  among  the  Arowaks,'  or  fasting  and  lacera- 
tion as  among  the  Chippeways/  or  fasting  and  exposure 
to  much  danger  in  handling  poisonous  serpents,  as  in 
portions  of  Africa. 

Save  in  a  few  tribes,  the  sacerdotal  office  belongs  ex- 


294  ^    HISTORY    OF    MANKIND. 

clusively  to  men.  Among  the  exceptions  are  the  Fantis, 
Whydahs  and  Popos,^  who  have  some  women  priests,  and 
several  Dyak  tribes,  all  whose  priests  are  women.  In  cer- 
tain Dyak  tribes  the  men  are  priests,  but  they  must  wear 
the  dress  of  women."  There  is  a  similar  priesthood  in 
Alaska.  Among  the  Dahomans  and  Damaras  a  woman 
belonging  to  the  family  of  the  head  chief  may  become  a 
priest,  and  among  the  Blantyre  negroes,  during  the  ab- 
sence of  the  chief,  who  is  also  high  priest,  his  wife  con- 
ducts the  worship." 

The  worship  of  the  ancestor  belongs  to  the. head  of  the 
household  and  is  an  obstacle  to  the  rise  of  a  powerful 
priesthood.  As  the  sacerdotal  profession  rises,  the  do- 
mestic religion  usually  declines.  Perhaps  the  weakest 
clergy  among  tilling  savages  with  despotic  chiefs  is  found 
in  New  Zealand,  where  the  ancestral  divinities  are  adored 
with  great  fervor  and  where  the  tribal  gods  are  relatively 
insignificant.  Some  writers  have  said  that  there  are  no 
priests  among  the  Maoris ;  there  is  no  such  hereditary 
sacerdotal  class  as  there  is  in  Tahiti  and  Hawaii,  but 
there  are  men  who  make  a  study  of  the  ancient  myths, 
songs,  and  rituals.^^  In  some  Kaffir  tribes  there  are  nu- 
merous gradations  in  the  sacerdotal  profession  and  every 
priest  is  expected  to  serve  in  every  lower  grade  success- 
ively before  admission  to  a  higher  one.  The  initiatory 
ceremonies  include  fasting,  solitary  contemplation,  danc- 
ing and  singing.^^ 

Among  the  Tahitians,  Marquesans  and  some  other 
Polynesian  and  some  African  tribes,  the  high  priest  bears 
the  same  title  as  the  god,  and  is  treated  by  his  subordin- 
ates as  if  he  were  one."  The  same  honors  are  paid  to  the 
priest  as  to  the  image  of  the  divinity.  Incense  is  burned, 
sacrifices  are  made,  and  prayers  are  addressed  to  him. 


SEC.    141.    SENSITIVES,    ETC.  295 

Sec.  141.  Sensitives,  etc. — In  low  savagism,  the  priests 
generally,  or  at  least  those  who  have  the  highest  standing 
in  their  profession,  are  persons  of  peculiar  nervous  sensi- 
tiveness. "  Persons  whose  constitutional  unsoundness  in- 
duces morbid  manifestations  are  indeed  marked  out  by  nat- 
ure to  become  seers  and  sorcerers."^  Among  the  Zulus, 
men  of  "very  sensitive  families"  become  priests.^  "When 
first  the  spirit  of  prophecy  manifests  itself  in  a  Kaffir,  he 
begins  by  losing  all  his  interest  in  the  events  of  every- 
day life.  He  becomes  depressed  in  mind,  prefers  solitude 
to  company,  often  has  fainting  fits,  and  what  is  most  ex- 
traordinary of  all,  loses  his  appetite.  He  is  visited  by 
dreams  of  an  extraordinary  character,  mainly  relating  to 
serpents,  lions,  hyenas,  leopards,  and  other  wild  beasts. 
Day  by  day  he  becomes  more  possessed,  until  the  per- 
turbations of  his  spirit  manifest  themselves  openly.  In 
this  stage  of  his  novitiate,  the  future  prophet  utters  terri- 
ble yells,  leaps  here  and  there  with  astonishing  vigor,  and 
runs  about  at  full  speed,  leaping  and  shrieking  all  the 
time.  When  thus  excited,  he  will  dart  into  the  bush, 
catch  snakes  (which  an  ordinary  Kaffir  will  not  touch), 
tie  them  around  his  neck,  boldly  fling  himself  into  the 
water  and  perform  all  kinds  of  insane  feats."^  When  a 
Tongan  priest  is  inspired  with  the  spirit  of  prophecy  he 
becomes  greatly  excited,  and  sometimes  dies  with  the 
acfitation/     Convulsions   and  actions  similar  to  those  of 

o 

insane  persons,  are  often  observed  in  the  priests  of 
Siberia,  Patagonia,  the  Bhil  country,*  F'iji,  Hawaii  and 
Tahiti,"'  and  they  are  brought  on  purposely  by  fasting, 
mutilations,  sweat  baths,  solitude,  drugs,'  narcotics  and 
alcoholic  liquors.*  The  ancient  Scythian  priests  in- 
haled the  smoke  of  burning  hemp.  Savages  generally 
regard  every  phase  of  intoxication,  delirium,  convulsion 


296  A    HISTORY    OF    MANKIND. 

and  wild  or  furious  dementia  as  a  spiritual  possession. 
Lunacy  and  priestcraft  are  considered  to  be  nearly  related. 
The  greater  the  resemblance  in  his  conduct  and  appear- 
ance to  that  of  a  lunatic,  the  greater  the  confidence  com- 
manded by  the  priest.  His  careless  dress,  his  lean  form, 
his  glaring  eyes,  and  the  irregular  and  fidgety  movements 
of  his  facial  muscles  and  of  his  limbs,  all  heighten  his  re- 
pute for  sanctity,  and  therefore  his  influence  and  his  rev- 
enue. The  sacerdotal  profession  among  low  savages,  is 
not  regarded  as  one  of  luxury  or  ease  in  its  earlier  years. 
Its  votary  must  begin  by  subjecting  himself  to  severe 
trials  of  various  kinds,  as  a  means  of  securing  ultimate  suc- 
cess. Some  tribes  of  North  American  Indians  for  instance 
expected  their  young  priest  to  thrust  strong  wooden  skew- 
ers through  the  muscles  of  his  breast,  to  suspend  himself 
by  these  with  his  toes  merely  touching  the  ground,  and 
to  remain  hanging  thus  all  day  without  fainting.® 

As  a  consequence  of  the  belief  in  some  tribes  that  all, 
and  in  others  that  most  diseases  are  caused  by  demoniac 
influence,  the  priest,  among  savages,  has  taken  possession 
of  the  healing  art.  His  chief  remedy  is  exorcism,  by 
songs,  instrumental  music,  incantations,  incense,  offerings 
or  prayers.  He  may  prescribe  an  offering  to  propitiate  an 
offended  spirit,  and  in  this  case  the  gift  goes  to  the 
priest  for  the  spirit's  benefit.  One  mode  of  treatment  is 
based  on  the  idea  that  the  persecuting  spirit  will  flee 
if  the  sick  man's  hut  is  made  an  unpleasant  place  of  so- 
journ. In  such  case,  the  priest  shouts,  growls,  groans, 
drums,  barks  like  a  dog,  gesticulates  furiously,  makes  ugly 
faces,  gives  disgusting  medicines  to  the  patient,  burns  sub- 
stances of  fetid  odor,  and  as  a  last  resort,  sets  the  hut  afire, 
even  if  the  invalid  be  so  feeble  that  he  can  with  difficulty 
escape.'"     Sometimes  the  priest  says  the  evil  spirit  is  in 


SEC.    142.    SORCERERS.  297 

a  stone,  a  bone,  a  lizard,  a  toad,  or  a  snake,  and  points  to 
the  part  of  the  body  occupied  by  the  possessed  object 
He  then  puts  his  mouth  to  the  place,  pretends  to  suck 
out  the  thing  and  holds  it  up  in  his  hand.  With  the 
help  of  dexterity  on  one  side  and  credulity  on  the  other 
this  trick  is  nearly  always  successful,  in  everything  save 
curing  the  patient.  Some  priests  are  able  to  throw  up  a 
small  pebble  or  bone  at  will,  and  this  skill  is  a  great  aid 
in  this  imposture.^^  The  Maoris  imagine  that  each  organ 
is  exposed  to  the  attack  of  a  special  e\'il  spirit,  and  that 
the  best  remedy  is  to  address  a  suitable  prayer  to  this 
spirit.  The  services  of  the  priest  are  then  indispensable. 
Even  if  emetics  be  administered,  their  efficacy  is  to  be 
attributed  to  their  potency  in  driving  out  the  persecuting 
demon. ^" 

Civilized  travelers  who  have  had  good  opportunities  of 
observation,  generally  believe  that  the  savage  priests,  as 
a  class,  have  a  sincere  faith  in  their  divine  commission 
and  in  the  real  existence  of  their  gods  ;  but  that  this  sin- 
cere faith  does  not  prevent  tJiose  priests  from  using  any 
trickery  that  may  seem  efficient  in  increasing  their  own 
revenue  and  influence. 

Sec.  142,  Sorcerers. — A  prominent  part  of  the  savage 
religion  is  the  belief  that  sorcerers  can  control  the  disem- 
bodied .spirits  and  influence  them  to  enter,  occupy  and  in- 
jure the  bodies  of  men  designated  as  victims. 

To  use  this  malign  influence  with  success,  it  is  neces- 
sary, in  many  tribes,  that  the  sorcerer  should  get  a  bit  of 
rubbish  from  the  body  of  his  victim.^  The  best  material  is 
some  clipping  from  hair  or  nails,  some  saliva  or  e.xcreta. 
For  lack  of  these,  any  article  of  clothing  that  he  has  worn, 
any  piece  of  food,  from  which  he  has  bitten  apart,  maybe 
employed.     In  Fiji,  the  bone  of  one  of  his  ancestors  is 


298  A   HISTORY  OF  MANKIND. 

sufficient.  If  nothing  better  can  be  had,  the  earth  on 
which  his  foot  has  left  its  track  will  suffice.  An  imag-e 
made  of  clay  or  other  material,  enclosing  the  rubbish  is 
called  by  the  victim's  name — it  is  very  important,  for 
this  purpose,  to  know  his  true  name — and  then  scorched, 
burned,  boiled,  pierced  with  a  thorn,  cut  with  a  knife,  or 
crushed,  while  the  sorcerer  prays  his  god  to  kill  the 
victim.  In  Tahiti,  a  skull  is  smeared  with  something 
that  had  been  prepared  as  food  for  the  victim  and  then 
the  spirit  of  the  dead  man  attacks  the  person  with  whose 
rubbish  he  has  been  insulted.^  The  custom  of  thus 
using  rubbish  to  destroy  enemies  is  almost  coextensive 
with  savagism  and  has  prevailed  in  many  barbarous  and 
civilized  communities.  Within  the  last  half  century,  it 
has  been  practiced  in  England  and  Scotland. 

When  it  is  known  that  a  professional  sorcerer  has 
obtained  rubbish  of  a  person  and  has  prayed  that  he  may 
die,  death  is  confidently  expected.  It  is  reasonable  to 
suppose  that  poison  is  often  employed  to  protect  popu- 
lar expectation  from  disappointment  and  sacerdotal 
credit  from  serious  diminution.  Rubbish  can  be  em- 
ployed to  torture  and  demoralize  the  dead  as  well  as  the 
living,  and  to  injure  the  latter  through  their  spiritual 
guardians. 

In  many  countries,  as  a  protection  against  sorcery,  all 
personal  rubbish  is  carefully  burned;  and  corpses  or 
their  ashes  are  concealed.  Among  the  New  Zealanders 
one  of  the  most  disgraceful  calamities  that  can  befall  a 
family  is  to  permit  the  bones  of  a  deceased  chief  or  war- 
rior to  fall  into  the  hands  of  an  enemy.  For  the  purpose 
of  enabling  all  to  secure  their  own  safety,  there  is  an  ex- 
tensive custom  in  Polynesia,  that  every  person  shall  re- 
ceive his  portion  of  food  in  a  separate  basket   or  on  a 


SEC.    142.    SORCERERS.  299 

seoarate  leaf,  and  that,  after  finishincr  his  meal,  he  shall 
secrete  the  remnants.  There  is  no  eating  from  a  com- 
mon dish. 

If  nothing  that  has  been  used  by  the  intended  victim 
can  be  obtained,  the  sorcerer  can  make  an  image  rep- 
resenting him  and  by  giving  it  his  name,  use  it  for  his 
destruction.  In  such  case  it  is  impossible  to  achieve 
success  without  the  true  name  of  the  victim  ;  *  and  per- 
haps for  this  reason,  many  savages  are  unwilling  to  let 
their  names  be  known. 

Although  in  tribes  with  despotic  governments,  the 
priests  recognized  by  the  chiefs  claim  to  possess  and  to 
exercise  the  powers  of  sorcery,  they  arc  hostile  to  all 
outsiders  who  have  the  credit  of  practicing  that  art. 
Unless  bound  together  by  a  strong  community  of  inter- 
est, such  as  relationship  by  blood  or  membership  in  an 
established  priesthood,  sorcerers  are  natural  enemies  to 
one  another.  In  some  tribes  the  sacerdotal  profession  is 
frequently  called  upon  to  find  out  the  magician  who  has 
been  the  cause  of  a  death,  and  the  discovery  is  made 
either  by  omens  or  by  smell.  Since  a  victim  must  be 
found  for  every  important  offense,  such  as  the  sickness 
or  death  of  a  chief  or  prominent  warrior,  the  life  of  a 
man  hateful  to  the  priest  and  without  powerful  friends, 
is  very  insecure.  The  evil  is  the  result  of  malignant 
sorcery  and  must  be  expiated  before  relief  is  to  be  ex- 
pected. Everybody  is  suspected  of  being  the  malignant 
sorcerer ;  at  least  no  one  save  the  mighty  is  safe  from 
suspicion.  The  father  is  distrusted  by  his  child,  and 
the  child  by  his  father.^  If  either  should  be  accused  by 
the  priest,  the  other  must  not  venture  to  interfere.  No- 
body must  demand  reasonable  evidence;  the  assertion  of 
the  priest  or  the  divination  under  his  management  is  con- 


300  A    HISTORY   OF   MANKIND. 

elusive.  The  Abipones  say  that  death  would  disappear 
from  the  world  if  the  sorcerers  would  abandon  their 
deplorable  arts.** 

The  belief  in  the  evil  eye, — the  power  of  the  glance  of 
the  envious  person  to  injure  the  desired  object  or  its 
owner, — prevails  in  many  savage  tribes  as  well  as  in  all 
Mohammedan  and  in  many  Christian  countries.  Any 
admiring  remark  about  a  child,  without  some  pious 
ejaculation  to  show  that  no  harm  is  meant,  provokes 
alarm  where  this  superstition  exists.  In  Abyssinia,  chil- 
dren, houses  and  much  prized  beasts  have  some  striking 
ornament  to  fix  the  attention  of  the  evil  eye,  and  prevent 
it  from  doing  harm  ;  and  many  persons  wear  amulets  in- 
scribed with  some  phrase  that  is  considered  a  protective 
charm.^ 

Sec.  143.  Sacerdotal  Functions. — In  proportion  as  the 
grade  of  culture  is  higher,  the  ecclesiastical  organization 
is  more  complex  and  the  sacerdotal  functions  are  more 
numerous.  Among  the  tropical  Polynesians,  we  find 
custodians  of  songs  and  legends,  custodians  of  temples, 
musicians,  and  managers  of  public  festivals  as  well  as 
healers,  diviners,  sorcerers,  sacrificers,  and  priests  of  fam- 
ily and  tribal  divinities. 

Besides  taking  charge  of  the  places  and  ceremonies 
of  worship,  the  Tahitian  priests  officiate  at  the  installa- 
tions, marriages  and  funerals  of  chiefs,  act  as  orators, 
singers,  prophets  and  leaders  in  battle,  consecrate  temples 
and  idols,  announce  taboos  and  watch  over  their  enforce- 
ment, and  by  virtue  of  superior  nautical  skill  and  astro- 
nomical knowledge,  command  maritime  expeditions  to 
distant  islands  or  groups.^  At  the  temples,  they  beat 
drums  every  morning  to  waken  the  gods  and  attract 
divine  attention  to  the  prayers,  after  which  they  return 


SEC.    143.    SACERDOTAL   FUNCTIONS.  $01 

thanks  for  past  favors  and  recite  a  litany.  In  portions  of 
Polynesia  the  priests  baptize  and  name  children/  absolve 
sinners  after  confession,  and  perform  operations  similar  to 
that  of  circumcision. 

Like  the  gods  of  the  savages,  their  priests  delight  in 
war.  They  encourage  the  chiefs  and  people  to  engage 
in  hostilities.  They  go  with  the  military  expeditions, 
observe  the  omens  or  take  the  auspices  and  promise  vic- 
tory.^ They  bless  their  warriors  on  the  battle  field  ;  they 
curse  the  enemies ;  and  they  share  the  spoil.  In  most 
tribes  they  are  leaders  in  the  fight ;  in  others,  as  among 
the  New  Caledonians,  they  stand  aloof,  fasting  and  pray- 
ing for  victory.  Among  the  Eggarahs,  a  high  priest 
always  holds  the  position  of  minister  of  war,  and  the  in- 
fluence of  the  national  religion  is  of  course  used  to  sus- 
tain all  his  military  projects.  In  the  Hawaiian  group, 
if  a  tlieft  has  been  committed  without  witnesses,  and 
under  circumstances  which  do  not  throw  suspicion  on 
any  one,  public  notice  is  given  that  the  gods  will  punish 
the  offender.  A  priest  throws  some  nuts  into  a  fire  and 
while  they  burn,  he  prays  aloud  that  the  thief  may  die, 
unless  he  shall  come  forward  and  confess.  If  he  con- 
fesses, he  is  fined  ;  if  he  does  not  confess,  the  chief  makes 
proclamation  that  the  thief  has  been  prayed  to  death,  and 
the  people  believe  that  such  a  prayer  is  invariably  fatal.* 

In  portions  of  Polynesia  if  a  person  be  suspected  of 
having  connuitted  a  crime,  the  priest  may  summon  him 
to  come  forward  and  take  an  oath  of  his  innocence. 
His  compliance  is  accepted  as  proof;  his  refusal  as  an 
admission  of  guilt.  The  belief  is  universal  that  perjury 
in  such  a  case  is  punished  promptly  with  death. 

Among  the  Cheyennes,  one  duty  of  the  tribal  priest  is 
to  organize  and  superintend  a  sacred  dance  in  the  early 


302  A   HISTORY  OF   MANKIND. 

spring,  to  determine  by  its  omens,  whether  the  good 
god — the  divinity  fevorable  to  the  tribe — will  have  con- 
trol over  their  fate  in  the  approaching  season.  If  the  re- 
sult should  prove  favorable,  they  will  undertake  some 
hostile  military  expedition  ;  if  unfavorable  they  will  seek 
to  avoid  an  encounter.  The  good  omen  is  the  comple- 
tion of  the  dance  without  the  death  or  exhaustion  of  any 
of  the  participants,  of  whom  all  must  dance,  and  whistle 
for  forty-eight  hours  at  least,  and  perhaps  for  sixty  or 
seventy,  never  stopping  for  food,  drink,  rest,  or  any  re- 
lief This  dance  is  called  "  making  medicine "  for  the 
tribe.  The  superintending  priest  designates  the  time 
when,  and  the  place  where  the  dance  is  to  be  held,  se- 
lects the  men  who  must  participate,  releases  those  who 
fall  down  from  overexertion,  or  orders  them  back  to 
continue  their  work,  and  decides  when  success  is  assured 
and  the  dance  may  stop.  If  one  of  the  dancers  should 
die,  as  sometimes  happens,  the  ceremony  comes  to  a  sud- 
den end,  and  without  an  announcement  from  the  priest, 
everybody  understands  that  the  bad  god  is  the  master 
of  the  tribe  for  a  year  to  come.^ 

One  effective  function  of  the  priests  is  to  punish  their 
enemies.  In  portions  of  Africa,  the  man  who  refuses  to 
pay  tribute  to  the  clergy,  or  who  neglects  to  comply 
with  the  established  ecclesiastical  observances,  has  an  in- 
secure life.  At  any  moment,  and  without  the  least  evi- 
dence against  him,  he  may  be  convicted  of  sorcery  and 
executed.  For  those  who  commit  minor  offenses  against 
the  sacerdotal  authority,  there  are  various  punishments, 
such  as  those  of  Mumbojumbo,  in  which  a  party  of  dis- 
guised priests  appear  suddenly  in  a  village  and  give  un- 
merciful beatings  to  those  selected  as  victims.® 

Sec.  144.  Areoi. — Several  Polynesian    groups  had  an 


SEC.    144.   AREOI.  303 

ecclesiastical  society  called  the  Areoi/  and  the  Mariana 
Islanders  had  a  similar  organization,  styled  by  them,  the 
Ulitao.  Membership  in  it  was  highly  honorable  and 
reserved  for  the  nobles.  Its  main  purpose  was  to  pro- 
vide entertainments  at  the  public  festivals,  and  as  these 
were  always  ecclesiastical,  the  association  partook  of  the 
same  character.  Admission  was  desired  by  all  and  was 
granted  to  few,  save  those  who  had  some  special  talent 
or  skill,  or  strong  influence  with  high  chiefs  or  priests. 
There  were  seven  ranks,  and  admission  was  granted 
only  to  the  lowest ;  with  promotion  by  one  grade  at  a 
time  to  those  who  had  proved  successful  in  amusing  the 
multitude.  The  rules  of  excluding  mediocrity  and  re- 
warding merit,  and  the  imposing  ceremonies  with  which 
promotions  were  celebrated,  contributed  much  to  the 
lustre  and  influence  of  the  Areoi.  Its  members  were 
marked  with  a  special  tattoo  for  every  rank,  familiar  to 
everybody. 

It  was  the  duty  of  the  society  to  give  dramatic  per- 
formances, concerts,  dances,  athletic  games,  and  sham 
fisrhts.  and  to  travel  from  island  to  island,  whenever  the 
time  occurred  for  the  local  festival.  They  decorated 
their  heads  with  flowers ;  they  dressed  in  bright  colors  ; 
they  painted  their  bodies  with  black  and  their  faces  with 
scarlet.  They  included  all  the  best  actors,  singers,  danc- 
ers, and  athletes  in  the  country.  Everywhere  they 
were  received  with  demonstrations  of  respect,  supplied 
with  the  most  delicious  food,  and  allowed  great  privilege. 

Many  of  their  songs  were  licentious,  and  at  every  fes- 
tival, members  in  the  lower  ranks  took  part  in  scenes  of 
gross  obscenity.  Women  as  well  as  men  were  Areoi ; 
and  all  members  of  the  society,  whether  married  or  not, 
were  exempt  from  the  rules  of  chastity.     The  gratifica- 


004  ^   HISTORY  OF   MANKIND. 

tion  of  their  libidinous  desires  was  considered  a  pious 
obligation.  All  their  children,  save  the  first  son  of  the 
highest  chief,  were  slain  immediately  after  birth.""  Tonga, 
Samoa,  and  most  islands  of  the  Marquesas  group  have 
no  Areoi. 

Sec.  145.  Revenue y  etc. — The  custom  of  making  offer- 
ings to  the  gods  in  temples  implies  a  sacerdotal  revenue. 
Every  system  of  worship  in  which  animals  are  sacrificed 
by  a  priest  or  under  his  supervision,  authorizes  him  to 
take  part  of  the  meat  for  his  own  use.  It  is  so  in  Poly- 
nesia and  Africa  •}  it  was  so  in  ancient  Egypt,  Babylonia, 
Greece,  and  Rome.  The  Mosiac  law  authorized  the 
priests  to  appropriate  a  share  of  the  victim.^ 

The    Tahitians,    Costa    Ricans,    Zunis,    Moquis,    and 
many  other  savage  tribes,  have  peculiar  sacerdotal  dia- 
lects, doubtless  the  remains  of  tongues  which  had  become 
partly  or  wholly  obsolete  among   the  common  people. 
The  Naeas,  Todas,  and  Damaras  kindle  fires,  for  ordin- 
ary  purposes,  with  matches  or  other    devices   obtained 
from  civilized  visitors;  but   their  sacred   fires  must   be 
lighted  by  the  ancient  method  of  friction  with   sticks  ; 
and  the  same  process  of  ignition  was  used  for  supersti- 
tious sacrifices  in  the  Scottish  Isles  two  centuries  since, 
and  for  kfndred  purposes  in  Germany  until  recent  times. 
The  same  tendency  to  regard  ancient  sacerdotal  usages 
as  sacred,  appears  in  the  Jewish  requirements  that  the 
stones  of  the  altar  should  not  be  hewn,*  and   that  the 
bread   for   offerings   should    not   be   leavened;*    in   the 
adherence  to  stone  knives  for  sacrifice   by  the  Aztecs, 
Chibchas,  and  Karens  after  they  had  metal ;  by  the  em- 
ployment of  dead  languages  in  the  worship  of  various 
African  and  Polynesian  tribes,  as  well  as  among  Copts, 
Japanese,  Buddhists,  Jews,  and    Roman  Cathohcs;  and 


SEC.    146.   TABOO.  305 

by-  the  adherence  of  the  Egy^ptian  priests  to  an  archaic 
style  of  writing.^ 

Sec.  146.  Taboo. — Taboo,  one  of  the  remarkable  eccle- 
siastical institutions  of  savagism,  was  potent  in  Polyne- 
sia, less  prominent  in  Micronesia,  and  relatively  weak  in 
Melanesia,  Malaysia,  Central  Africa^  and  part  of  Hindo- 
stan.  The  Polynesian  word  taboo,  according  to  some 
authorities  means  sacred,  according  to  others  "  obey  or 
die."  The  institution  is  a  sacerdotal  prohibition  of  cer- 
tain acts  under  penalty  of  death.  It  consecrates  certain 
persons  and  things.  Every  head  chief  is  taboo;  no  sub- 
ject can  strike  him  without  sacrilege.  The  taboo  of  the 
temple  forbids  any  unconsecrated  person  to  enter  its  pre- 
cinct. A  kind  of  food  may  be  taboo  to  a  class  of  per- 
sons. If  a  tree  is  taboo,  nobody  but  its  owner  can  pluck 
its  fruit. 

The  Polynesian  taboos  are  of  many  kinds,  general  and 
special,  permanent  and  temporal,  simple,  compound  and 
interdict.  A  permanent  taboo  is  of  ancient  origin,  and 
known  to  everybody.  It  is  enforced  without  notification. 
Such  are  the  rules  that  a  dish  used  to  hold  the  food  of 
one  person,  must  not  be  employed  by  another  for  the 
same  purpose ;  that  food  must  not  be  cooked  or  eaten  in 
a  sleeping  room;  that  the  wife  of  the  head  chief  must  not 
be  touched  lustfully  by  another  man;  and  that  slaves, 
women  and  common  freemen  must  not  eat  certain  kinds 
of  food,  nor  enter  temples,  nor  own  canoes,  nor  go  out  to 
sea  in  canoes.  All  temples,  their  enclosed  ground  and 
their  idols  are  protected  by  permanent  taboos. 

One  of  these  rules  provides  that  whenever  the  head 
chief  touches  a  piece  of  property  he  becomes  its  owner. 
In  crossing  the  estates  of  his  subjects,  he  is  carried  care- 
fully so  that  he  shall  not  come  in  contact  with  the  soil. 
20 


306  A   HISTORY   OF   MANKIND. 

In  many  groups  his  name  is  taboo  to  the  common  people, 
and  so  are  all  words  of  the  same  sound.  A  general 
taboo  is  attached  to  the  process  of  tattooing,  and  while  un- 
dergoing it,  a  man  must  not  touch  food  or  a  food  dish  with 
his  hands.  Every  morsel  that  he  eats  must  be  put  into 
his  mouth  by  some  other  person.  Certain  acts  are  con- 
taminating and  he  who  has  committed  them  is  taboo  until 
he  has  undergone  a  ceremony  of  purification,  or  until  a 
definite  period  has  elapsed.  A  new  house  is  taboo  and 
cannot  be  occupied  until  a  priest  has  driven  away  the 
evil  spirits,  and  consecrated  it.  A  new  temple  is  taboo 
until  the  head  chief  has  entered ;  and  not  till  then  can  it 
receive  its  idols  or  be  used  for  worship. 

In  part  of  Borneo,  a  taboo,  akin  to  quarantine,  forbids  all 
persons,  save  those  dwelling  in  a  house,  to  enter  it  within 
twelve  days  after  a  death  in  it,  or  to  speak  to  any  of  its 
occupants  within  that  period ;  and  in  the  same  region, 
after  a  death  by  a  pestilential  disease,  the  village  where  it 
occurred,  and  all  its  residents  are  taboo,  for  eight  days, 
to  the  people  of  other  villages.  Every  such  taboo  must 
be  raised  by  the  sacrifice  of  some  animal.^ 

In  Polynesia,  general  taboos  that  are  not  permanent, 
are  proclaimed  by  a  public  crier.  In  this  class  belong 
the  prohibition  to  kill  pigs  or  chickens  for  six  months, 
after  the  supply  of  them  has  been  much  reduced  by  some 
great  festival.  The  cows  and  other  quadrupeds  intro- 
duced into  the  Hawaiian  Islands  by  Vancouver  were  pro- 
tected for  ten  years  by  a  general  taboo.  An  English 
sailor  who  offended  a  chief,  was  subjected  to  a  special 
taboo  under  the  influence  of  which  no  native  would  have 
anything  to  do  with  him.  He  begged  for  mercy  and  was 
purified  of  his  offense  by  the  priest. 

When  a  country  is   in   great  danger  from  a  foreign 


SEC.    146,   TABOO.  307 

enemy  or  when  the  head  chief  is  dangerously  sick,  an 
interdict  taboo,  suggesting-  the  interdict  of  the  Roman 
CathoHc  Church,  is  imposed  on  the  whole  community. 
It  forbids  the  kindling  of  fire,  cooking  by  use  of  artificial 
light,  the  hoisting  of  a  sail,  bathing,  all  public  amuse- 
ments, and  all  loud  noises  save  those  made  in  the  eccle- 
siastical ceremonies.  The  barking  of  a  dog,  the  squealing 
of  a  pig,  or  the  crowing  of  a  cock,  within  the  hearing  of 
a  chief  or  priest,  at  such  a  time  is  a  great  offense  to  the 
gods.  During  the  interdict  such  animals  must  be  taken 
far  from  the  temples  and  villages,  or  secured  so  that  they 
shall  make  no  audible  noise.'  The  interdict  is  usually  of 
brief  duration,  but  one  in  Hawaii  lasted  thirty  years. 
The  simple  taboo  requires  prayers  in  the  temples  and 
abstinence  from  business  by  the  nobles. 

The  taboo  rules  are  not  the  same  in  any  two  groups 
of  Polynesia  or  Micronesia.  Each  country  has  pe- 
culiarities in  this  respect.  Usually  taboo  strengthens 
the  power  of  the  chiefs  and  nobles,  and  keeps  the  wo- 
men, commoners  and  slaves  in  subjection.  To  these  latter 
classes  ava,  the  only  intoxicating  drink,  is  taboo.  There 
is  not  more  than  enough  for  the  male  nobles.  Intox- 
icating drink  is  everywhere  taboo,  as  are,  in  nearly  all 
the  islands,  the  rare  kinds  of  delicious  food,  but  Karavia  is 
an  exception,  for  there  turtles  and  pigs  are  taboo  to  the 
men,  as  they  are  elsewhere  to  the  women.*  The  first 
fruits  and  fish  of  the  season  arc  reserved  for  offerings  to 
the  gods  ;  they  cannot  be  eaten  by  men  without  great  of- 
fense.'' In  Southern  California,  a  custom  suggestive  of 
taboo,  forbids  the  hunter  to  eat  any  part  of  the  animal  he 
has  killed  until  he  has  taken  it  to  the  village  to  share 
with  his  family." 

Taboos  to  protect  special  pieces  of  property  arc  indi- 


3o8  A   HISTORY  OF   MANKIND. 

cated  by  marks  attached  to  them.  For  this  purpose  a 
bundle  of  bamboo  leaves,  a  cocoa  leaf,  a  piece  of  bark 
cloth,  or  the  figure  of  some  animal  cut  out  of  bark  or 
plaited  with  twigs,  may  be  used.  Among  the  Santals,  a 
handful  of  straw,  fastened  on  a  bamboo  stick,  standing  in 
the  field,  will  give  protection.^  In  New  Zealand,  the 
taboo  mark  is  red  ;  in  other  parts  of  Polynesia,  white ;  in 
Fiji,  yellow. 

The  penalty  of  violating  a  taboo  is  death,  and  it  may 
be  inflicted  by  the  chief,  the  priest  or  the  discoverer  of 
the  violation.  After  secret  violation  of  a  taboo,  a  man 
sometimes  confesses  and  presents  himself  to  the  priest  to 
be  sacrificed  to  the  gods.  Those  general  taboos,  which 
are  announced  by  public  cries,  are  raised  by  ecclesiasti- 
cal ceremonies  including  sacrifice,  prayer  and  lustration.^ 
In  Samoa,  a  sick  man  is  questioned  by  the  priest  whether 
he  has  not  broken  a  taboo,  and  if  he  says  no,  he  is  never- 
theless purified  with  holy  water  to  wash  away  any  sin 
that  may  have  been  committed  unconsciously.^ 

The  important  taboos  emanate  from  the  head  chief 
directly  or  through  the  priests ;  the  minor  taboos,  such 
as  those  designed  to  protect  individual  property,  may  be 
attached  by  the  owner.  In  the  latter  case,  however, 
they  have  no  force  against  a  person  of  higher  rank.  The 
raising  of  the  greater  taboos  requires  special  ceremonies, 
including  the  washing  away  of  the  consecration.  No 
person  is  allowed  to  approach  the  high  chief  in  Samoa 
until  he  has  been  purified  for  the  occasion  by  sprinkling 
with  holy  water.'"  Of  the  taboo  as  enforced  in  Hawaii, 
Jarves"  says  :  "  It  may  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  great- 
est productions  of  heathen  ingenuity.  A  more  power- 
ful system  of  religious  despotism,  at  once  capable  of 
great  utility  and  equal  abuse,  could  not  have  been  de- 


1 


SEC.    147.    OMENS,    ETC.  3O9 

vised.  Its  application  was  adapted  to  all  circumstances, 
and  no  civil  or  ecclesiastical  government  ever  possessed 
a  more  refined  yet  effective  weapon.  Its  influence  among 
the  common  people  was  universal  and  inflexible.  Its 
exactments  were  of  the  most  humiliating  and  trouble- 
some description,  and  if  anything  had  been  wanting  to 
complete  their  bondage,  this,  like  the  keystone  to  an 
arch,  was  made  to  perfect  and  perpetuate  their  degrada- 
tion." 

The  system  of  taboo  reached  its  highest  development 
in  countries  like  Tahiti  and  Hawaii,  which  had  despotic 
chiefs,  hereditary  nobles,  and  powerful  priesthoods.  It 
had  relatively  little  influence  among  the  Maoris,  who  had 
no  hereditary  priesthood.  It  was  not  known  among  the 
Redmen,  who  have  no  hereditary  class  with  superior 
privileges  to  be  protected  against  trespass  by  the  rabble. 
Wherever  taboo  exists,  the  people  accept  it  as  of  divine 
origin  and  authority.  The  priests  say  so  and  the  multi- 
tude believe.  The  sanction  of  the  celestial  command 
is  not  left  however  to  celestial  agency ;  the  priests 
promptly  slay  the  man  whom  they  detect  in  the  violation 
of  their  orders. 

Sec.  147.  Omens,  etc. — Savages  imagine  that  the  spirits 
who  surround  them  and  take  great  interest  in  their  life, 
are  continually  giving  them  omens,  by  which  they  can 
know  what  course  to  pursue  in  every  contingency  that 
may  arise ;  and  they  attribute  a  large  part  of  their  suc- 
cess or  failure  in  life  to  the  greater  or  less  degree  of  at- 
tention with  which  they  observe  and  accuracy  with  which 
they  interpret  these  signs.  A  sneeze,  a  yawn,  a  stumble, 
a  flash  of  lightning,  the  appearance  of  a  quadruped,  bird 
or  reptile,  the  direction  or  speed  of  its  motion,  may  indi- 
cate that  the  enterprise  which  the  man  is  about  to  under- 


3IO  A   HISTORY   OF   MANKIND, 

take  should  be  pursued  or  abandoned.  The  sight  of  a 
hare  suggests  caution  ;  that  of  a  tortoise,  slow  movement ; 
that  of  the  totem  of  a  hostile  tribe,  great  danger,  that  of 
the  totem  of  the  warrior,  success ;  or  that  of  a  fierce  pred- 
atory bird  or  quadruped,  encouragement.  In  Central 
Africa,  Emin  Pasha  found  these  omens :  "  If  an  owl 
screeches  near  the  house,  its  master  dies.  If  a  hyaena  or 
jackal  repeatedly  approaches  the  house,  misfortune  is. at 
hand.  When  the  rhinoceros-bird  croaks,  rain  may  be 
looked  for.  If  a  wagtail  sings  on  the  threshold,  guests 
or  presents  will  arrive.  If  a  man  kills  wagtails  in  the 
house,  fire  breaks  out  in  it.  If  a  wagtail  forsakes  its 
nest,  made  in  the  house,  misfortune  is  near.  Vultures  and 
ravens  are  chiefs  among  birds  and  their  slaughter  causes 
illness.  If  vultures  alight  on  the  top  of  a  poor  man's 
house,  he  will  receive  high  gifts  and  presents.  .  .  . 
If  on  moving  from  one  house  to  another,  anything  is 
broken  or  a  woman  falls  on  the  way,  the  family  returns 
to  the  house  it  has  left.  If  on  starting  for  a  campaign  a 
buffalo  runs  across  the  path,  or  a  guinea  fowl  flies  up 
before  the  warriors,  this  portends  the  death  of  many  men 
and  every  one  turns  back."  ^ 

Most  of  the  tribes  which  attribute  all  deaths  to  sor- 
cerers, study  omens  to  discover  the  homicidal  sorcerer 
in  the  case  of  every  prominent  man  or  warrior.  The 
simplest  omen,  for  such  purposes,  is  the  presumption 
that  the  first  person  met  by  the  avenging  party  is  the 
criminal.  In  some  tribes,  straws  are  laid  on  the  fresh 
grave,  pointing  towards  every  village  in  the  vicinity ;  and 
the  first  straw  on  which  a  fly  alights,  indicates  the  place 
where  the  offender  lives.^  In  some  tribes,  the  direc- 
tion taken  by  a  bug  put  on  the  grave  points  out  the 
home  of  the  sorcerer,* 


SEC.    148.    TEMPLES.  3II 

Besides  the  omens  offered  to  them  by  the  face  of  nature, 
many  tribes  seek  others  in  the  revelation  of  priests  and 
spirit  mediums,  in  the  appearance  of  the  entrails  of  birds, 
and  quadrupeds  and  human  beings,  and  in  a  varied  mul- 
titude of  experiments.  Of  these  methods  of  learning  the 
will  of  the  supernatural  powers,  the  one  most  extensively 
used  is  divination  from  the  entrails  of  birds.  It  is  used 
by  the  Polynesians,*  Araucans,^and  Kafifirs."  In  Uganda, 
human  beings  are  sometimes  sacrificed  for  the  purpose 
of  taking  the  auspices.'  Ordeals  are  nearly  akin  to  div- 
ination in  the  beliefs  out  of  which  they  grow,  and  are 
largely  ecclesiastical  in  their  nature,  but  as  their  purpose 
is  to  administer  justice,  their  consideration  belongs  prop- 
erly to  the  chapter  on  polity. 

Sec.  148.  Temples. — Under  the  impulse  of  respect  for 
the  dead,  men  learn  to  protect  the  corpses  of  their  rela- 
tives and  friends  from  wild  beasts,  by  either  burying  or 
burning.  Since  the  graves  are  often  shallow  on  account 
of  the  lack  of  tools  for  digging,  the  degree  of  security  for 
the  corpse  is  estimated  by  the  height  of  the  earth  or 
stones  heaped  up  over  the  body ;  and  then  the  import- 
ance of  the  deceased  and  the  esteem  of  the  survivors  are 
measured  by  the  same  standard.  Thus  sepulchral  mounds 
began,  and  became  numerous  and  large. 

A  large  class  of  conical  sepulchral  mounds  is  found 
in  the  Mississippi  basin.  Of  these  many  have,  in  the 
center,  on  the  surface  of  the  ground  a  burial  chamber  of 
wood  or  uncut  stone  ;  and  others  have  similar  tombs  of 
later  date  at  higher  levels ;  others  have  in  the  center,  a 
clay  altar  about  two  feet  high,  a  yard  or  more  wide,  and 
two  yards  or  more  long,  with  a  slight  concavity  on  top. 
On  such  altars  might  be  found  fragments  of  pottery,  beads 
and  ashes,  suggestive  of  cremation.' 


312  A    HISTORY    OF   MANKIND. 

One  mound  seven  yards  high  and  sixty  in  diameter,  in 
southwestern  Ohio,  about  thirty  miles  from  Cincinnati, 
appears  to  have  been  the  cemetery  of  a  village.  It  en- 
closes many  chambers  made  of  uncut  slabs  of  blue  lime- 
stone, each  chamber  being  about  three  feet  high  and 
containing  one  corpse  in  a  sitting  posture.  There  are 
several  layers  of  such  chambers,  all  covered  with  earth. ^ 
Mounds  containing  urns,  with  bones  burned  or  unburned, 
are  found  in  South  Carolina.^ 

An  ecclesiastical  mound,  near  Seltzertown,  Mississippi, 
is  six  hundred  feet  long  and  four  hundred  wide  on  the 
ground,  and  forty  feet  high.  A  shaft  forty  feet  deep  near 
the  middle  did  not  reach  the  natural  surface  of  the  ground. 
At  the  sides  were  found  sun-dried  bricks.*  One  of  the 
most  remarkable  structures  of  the  mound-builders  is  at 
Marietta,  Ohio,  on  a  plateau,  eighty  feet  above  the  level 
of  the  Ohio  River.  Two  enclosures,  each  nearly  square, 
one  containing  twenty-seven  and  the  other  fifty  acres, 
surrounded  by  earth  walls  about  six  feet  high,  contain 
each  four  tumuli.  Of  these,  the  largest  is  a  terrace,  one 
hundred  and  eighty  feet  long,  thirty-two  wide  and  ten 
high.  There  are  two  smaller  terraces,  and  five  conical 
mounds  about  fifteen  feet  high. 

Among  the  notable  earthworks  constructed  by  the  same 
race  are  mounds  shaped  like  various  animals.  Adams 
County,  Ohio,  has  a  serpent  seven  hundred  feet  long, 
thirty  wide  and  five  high.  The  body  of  the  reptile  has 
four  curves  on  each  side,  and  the  tail  winds  round  in  a 
coil.  The  mouth  is  open  as  if  about  to  swallow  an  egg, 
which  last  is  represented  by  an  oval  terrace  one  hundred 
and  sixty  feet  long  and  eighty  wide.  In  the  center  of 
this  terrace,  there  is  a  stone  mound.^ 

One  mile  from  Granville,  Licking  County,  Ohio,  there 


SEC.    148.    TEMPLES.  313 

is  an  alligator  mound,  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long, 
forty  feet  wide  in  the  body,  with  legs  thirty-six  feet  long. 
The  height  is  six  feet.®  Since  the  settlement  of  the 
country  by  the  white  men,  no  alligators  have  been 
found  within  five  hundred  miles  of  this  place.  Other 
mounds  represent  man,  mammoth,  buffalo,  wolf,  bear,  and 
bird.  The  mammoth  mound  in  Grant  County,  Wiscon- 
sin, is  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  feet  long,  and  forty 
wide  across  the  body.'  The  similarity  of  the  mound  to 
the  great  pachyderm  is  striking;  but  as  the  soil  near  the 
mound  is  sandy,  some  writers  have  asserted  that  the 
trunk  has  been  made  of  a  sand  drift. 

For  the  purpose  of  protecting  the  grave  and  its  offer- 
ings against  beasts  and  the  weather,  many  tribes  buried 
the  body  within  the  hut  which  was  then  abandoned  as  a 
habitation;  or  they  erected  a  special  building  over  the 
grave,  and  in  case  of  a  chief,  placed  the  building  in  charge 
of  a  custodian  instructed  to  make  offerings  of  food,  flow- 
ers and  incense,  and  to  sing  hymns  of  praise  every  day. 
Such  daily  offerings  are  made  in  the  sepulchral  huts  of 
Tahiti.*  In  Sumatra  and  New  Guinea  the  graves  are 
covered  with  shelters.'  The  Dyaks  put  the  sword,  shield, 
paddle  and  other  property  of  the  deceased  in  a  sacred  hut.'" 
In  Fiji  the  corpses  of  chiefs  are  put  into  huts  which  are 
rudimentary  temples.  In  Congo,  the  body  of  the  de- 
ceased chief  is  deposited  in  a  hut  to  which  clothes  are 
taken  as  presents,  and  as  these  presents  accumulate,  in 
the  course  of  time  it  becomes  necessary  to  build  other 
huts,  perhaps  five  or  si.x,  to  hold  them.  The  persons 
who  make  the  offerings,  pray  to  the  spirit  for  protection 
and  blessing."  The  Buddiiist  topes  are  tower-shaped 
tombs,  built  of  stone  and  solid.  Prayers  are  offered  at 
them  and  processions  of  worshipers  march  round  them. 


314  A    HISTORY   OF   MANKIND. 

Among  the  Turanians,  according  to  Mr.  Fergusson,  "the 
tomb  and  temple  may  be  considered  as  one  and  the  same 
thing."^^  The  corpse  of  every  Inca  monarch  had  its 
chapel,  where  his  spirit  was  worshiped."  The  tomb  of 
Darius  resembled  his  palace.^*  The  tombs  in  Egypt  were 
more  splendid  than  the  dwellings,  and  as  they  were 
places  for  regular  worship,  and  were  never  used  for  habi- 
tation or  business,  they  became  temples.^®  There  were 
cave  temples  as  well  as  cave  sepulchres."  Among  the 
Tongans  and  Kaffirs,  the  grave  of  a  high  chief  is  a 
sacred  place,  where  a  man  may  not  be  slain,  and  where 
enemies  must  meet  as  friends,  or  at  least  without  any  act 
of  violence. 

When  a  numerous  priesthood  devote  all  their  time 
to  sacerdotal  business,  they  acquire  consecrated  grounds 
and  temples,  among  savages  as  well  as  in  barbarous  and 
civilized  communities.  In  New  Zealand  and  the  Queen 
Charlotte  Islands,  there  is  no  class  of  men  devoted  ex- 
clusively to  priestly  duties,  and  there  are  no  temples, 
but  there  are  sacred  groves.^*  The  savage  temples 
are  usually  in  the  midst  of  groves.  The  only  aborig- 
inal stone  structures  of  Polynesia  are  the  maraes,  places 
of  burial  for  the  chiefs,  and  temples  for  worship.  Some 
of  these  maraes  are  simple  mounds  of  earth  enclosed  in  a 
wall  of  stone,  and  have  successive  terraces  or  steps. 
The  marae  on  Atahiva  Point,  Tahiti,  is  eighty-two  yards 
long,  twenty-nine  wide,  and  fifteen  high,  rising  in  ten 
steps,  each  more  than  a  yard  high  and  in  some  places 
three  yards  wide.  The  highest  terrace  is  four  yards 
wide  and  sixty-six  long.^'  The  enclosing  walls  are  of 
coral  rock  cut  into  shape,  but  how  cut  no  one  knows, 
for  it  is  supposed  that  the  marae  was'  erected  before 
the  arrival  of  the  first   Europeans,  and  before  metallic 


SEC.    148.    TEMPLES.  315 

tools  were  known.""  The  only  place  where  similar  mate- 
rial can  be  obtained  in  the  vicinity,  is  now  three  feet  under 
water  at  low  tide.  The  enclosed  grounds  of  this  marae 
have  an  area  of  about  three  acres,  with  numerous  large 
trees,  one  species  of  which  is  a  casuarina,  and  the  rust- 
ling of  its  leaves  in  the  wind  is  said  by  the  temple  priests 
to  be  the  voice  of  the  gods.''^  In  the  enclosure  there 
are  houses  for  the  priests  and  idols.  Every  one  of  the 
larger  islands  of  the  Tahitian  group  has  its  marae.  In 
Ponape,  the  marae  is  four  hundred  and  thirty  yards  long, 
and  seven  yards  wide  ;^^  in  the  Marquesas  group,  there 
is  a  marae  one  hundred  yards  long,  twenty  wide,  and 
three  high;  and  in  Tongataboo,  the  marae  has  stone 
blocks  eight  yards  long,  four  wide,  and  more  than  a 
yard  thick.^^ 

The  platform  to  hold  the  offerings,  in  the  grave,  huts, 
and  burial  grounds  of  Tahiti  and  Hawaii,  have  the  size 
and  shape  of  biers,  and  are  incipient  altars.  The  Bed- 
ouins pile  stones  over  the  graves  and  there  sacrifice 
sheep  and  camels  to  the  dead,  using  the  stone  heap  for 
an  altar.^*  The  early  Hebrew  altars  were  of  undressed 
stones,  .reminding  us  of  those  of  their  modern  Semitic 
relatives."  The  Central  Americans  make  altars  of  stone 
and  mortar  over  graves,  and  on  them  burn  incense  and 
make  ofTcrines.'"  The  altars,  at  the  entrance  of  the  cata- 
combs  of  Thebes  are  carved  with  representations  of  offer- 
ings, like  those  painted  on  the  tombs,  suggesting  that 
the  tomb  was  used  for  an  altar,  and  that  the  latter  was 
differentiated  from  the  formcr.^^  The  tumulus  over  the 
grave  of  a  Chinese  emperor,  being  too  large  for  use  as  an 
altar,  a  small  structure  must  be  erected  at  its  side  to 
hold  the  offerings.""* 

The  rude  stone  monuments   known  as  menhirs    and 


3l6  A    HISTORY   OF   MANKIND. 

dolmens  or  cromlechs  have,  by  many  writers,  been  at- 
tributed to  savages,  but  Fergusson,  the  highest  author- 
ity in  reference  to  them,  thinks  they  were  erected  by 
barbarians  and  description  of  them  is  reserved  for  the 
next  volume."' 

Sec.  149.  Religions  Development. — Like  other  depart- 
ments of  culture,  savage  religion  is  a  human  production. 
Neither  in  its  origin  nor  its  growth,  neither  in  its  dog- 
mas nor  its  ceremonies,  neither  in  its  priesthood  nor  its 
influence,  does  it  bear  the  marks  of  supernatural  wisdom 
or  goodness.  Unlike  the  Pallas  of  the  Grecian  myth,  it 
did  not  appear  at  the  moment  of  birth,  as  a  full  grown 
divinity.  Whatever  may  justly  be  claimed  for  divine 
revelation  in  higher  conditions  of  progress,  there  is  no 
proof,  nor  even  the  least  evidence  of  any  direct  commu- 
nication, from  a  supernatural  source,  of  religious  truth  to 
the  savage  man. 

The  beginnings  of  religion,  as  we  have  seen  were  al- 
most imperceptibly  small ;  its  early  forms  coarse  and 
rude  ;  and  its  ideas  unsound ;  its  later  forms  slow  in  their 
development ;  its  sacerdotal  representatives  arrogant  and 
violent;  and  its  believers  ignorant  and  credulous.  It 
had  no  morality,  no  great  first  cause,  and  no  immortality. 
Its  spirits,  its  gods,  its  divine  communications,  its  omens, 
its  taboos,  its  divine  penalties  for  the  violation  of  taboos, 
its  sorcery  and  remedies  for  sorcery,  its  diagnosis  of  and 
remedies  for  disease,  and  its  sacerdotal  authority  had  no 
basis  save  in  a  wild  imagination. 

We  have  found  the  first  phase  of  religion  in  adoration 
of  souls,  which  are  conceived  vaguely  as  having  no 
blood  relationship  to  the  worshiper.  This  form  of  faith, 
based  mainly  on  dreams  accompanied  by  a  timorous 
feeling,  is  found  among  such  low  savages  as  the  Austral- 


SEC.    149.    RELIGIOUS    DEVELOPMENT.  317 

ians.  A  little  higher  is  soul  worship  when  associated 
with  totemism;  and  still  higher  when  accompanied  by 
fetishism.  After  men  have  risen  to  tilling  culture 
and  have  then  advanced  to  the  masculine  clan,  they 
abandon  the  worship  of  souls,  and  adopt  that  of  their 
ancestors.  They  make  offerings  and  sacrifices  regularly 
at  the  grave,  and  build  altars  and  temples. 

After  adopting  compact  tribal  organizations,  and  des- 
potic chiefs,  they  recognize  national  gods,  establish  he- 
reditary priesthoods,  and  adopt  elaborate  rituals  of  wor- 
ship. 

There  is  no  evidence  in  favor  of  the  theory  that  true 
religion  was  revealed  to  the  primitive  men  and  that  it 
was  then  corrupted  by  the  infirmities  of  humanity.  All 
the  presumptions  point  in  the  contrary  direction.  No 
other  branch  of  culture  has  such  peculiar  guarantees 
against  decay.  No  other  has  such  a  hold  on  popular 
affection.  No  other  has  been  in  the  hands  of  a  body  of 
men  so  intelligent,  and  so  steadfast  in  maintaining  their 
ideas  and  customs.  Political  institutions  are  overturned 
more  easily  and  more  frequently  than  religions.  In  sav- 
age tribes  and  barbarous  nations  generally,  the  priests 
are  the  most  powerful,  most  conservative,  and  most  per- 
manent class  of  persons.  In  the  ruder  communities,  no 
such  well-paid,  jealous,  influential,  and  well-organized 
class  in  the  full  vigor  of  years  and  experience  has  ever 
become  the  custodians  and  managers  of  the  social  and 
political  affairs,  as  are  the  priests  in  many  nations. 

Religion  has  so  much  influence  over  the  human  mind; 
it  has  been  accepted  everywhere  with  such  complete  faith 
by  the  multitude,  and  in  the  higher  phases  of  savagism, 
it  has  been  so  profitable  to  nobles,  priests,  and  chiefs, 
that  they  certainly  never  could  have  allowed  it  to  decay. 


3l8  A  HISTORY  OF  MANKIND. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  we  know  that  willingly  they  never 
did.  The  hypothesis  of  degeneration  is  as  much  a  prod- 
uct of  a  wild  imagination  as  is  savage  religion  itself. 

The  assertion  has  been  made  by  the  Duke  of  Argyle 
and  accepted  by  Max  Muller  that  "  Whenever  we  can 
trace  back  a  religion  to  its  first  beginnings,  we  find 
it  free  from  many  blemishes  that  affected  it  in  its  later 
stages."*  That  idea  has  not  found  the  least  confirmatory 
evidence  in  the  religions  of  savagism.  Neither  in  Polyne- 
sia, nor  America  nor  Africa  have  we  found  a  religion  free 
from  blemish  nor  have  we  found  one  that  was  corrupted 
by  advancing  culture.  In  regard  to  the  tendencies  in  the 
development  of  religion  in  barbarism  and  civilization,  the 
proper  time  to  express  opinions,  will  arrive  after  the  evi- 
dence has  been  submitted.  In  savagism,  religion  im- 
proves with  time. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

REVIEW. 

Section  150.  Ciilhire  Services. — The  lowest  form  of 
culture,  directly  known  to  us,  is  that  of  non-tilling  savag- 
ism,  in  which  man  possesses  edge  tools,  missile  weapons, 
articulate  speech,  tame  fire,  defensive  groups,  retaliatory- 
justice,  and  soul  worship.  How  long  he  had  lived  on 
the  earth  before  he  made  these  acquisitions,  we  do  not 
know ;  but  the  history  of  his  mental  development,  since 
he  obtained  them,  is  traceable  more  or  less  clearly ;  and 
its  main  events,  before  he  learned  to  smelt  metals,  are 
told  in  this  volume. 

In  looking  back  at  the  achievements  of  man  in  savag- 
ism,  we  find  that  he  became  an  excellent  hunter  and  fish- 
erman. He  supplied  himself  with  clothes  and  dwellings. 
He  acquired  skill  in  agriculture  and  navigation.  He  ac- 
cumulated stocks  of  food.  He  built  large  villages.  He 
maintained  communities,  in  which  density  of  population 
stimulated  thought,  favored  the  lively  circulation  of  ideas, 
and  aided  progress.  He  devised  rules  of  politeness  to 
guide  the  intercourse  between  equals,  between  host  and 
guest,  between  chief  and  subject.  He  organized  groups 
bound  to  defend  their  members,  and  he  gradually  en- 
larged them.  He  established  slavery,  nobility,  and 
strong  government.     He  invented  defensive  armor  and 

(319) 


320 


A   HISTORV   OF   MANKIND. 


fortifications.  He  used  strategy  and  made  beginnings  in 
tactics.  He  adopted  theological  creeds  and  ecclesiastical 
systems.  He  had  ceremonies  of  worship,  and  rudiments 
of  a  code  of  morality. 

This  summary  of  the  services  of  the  savage  to  progress, 
shows  that  he  laid  the  foundations  and  built  an  impor- 
tant portion  of  the  superstructure  in  all  the  main  depart- 
ments of  culture.  The  credit,  for  his  numerous  and  val- 
uable contributions,  does  not  -belong  exclusively  or 
mainly  to  any  one  country  nor  can  we  trace  the  origin 
of  any  one  of  them  unmistakably  to  a  special  continent 
nor  even  to  any  race. 

Sec.  151.  Grades  of  Culture. — For  the  purpose  of  com- 
paring the  cultural  conditions  of  some  of  the  lowest 
tribes,  the  following  table  has  been  compiled.  A  blank, 
in  the  table  indicates  that  information  is  lacking,  N 
stands  for  no  and  Y  for  yes.  The  main  tests,  for  the 
lowest  culture,  are  the  possession  of  four  numerals  (that 
is  whether  the  tribe  can  count  more  than  three),  dogs, 
canoes,  huts,  tillage,  chiefs,  pottery,  polished  stone, 
cloth,  and  funeral  rites.  The  lowest  Californians  are 
those  of  Lower  California ;  the  lowest  Australians  are 
those  of  Western  Australia. 


Tribes. 


Bushmen n 

Lowest  Californians    n 

Tasmanians 

Lowest  Australians 
Andamanese  .... 

Fuegians 

Drift  Europeans 
Echinus  Aleuts  . 
Hill  Veddahs..  . 


Dogs. 

n 

3 
0 

0) 
en 

X 
c 

ST 

Q 

a' 

0 

^-^ 

n> 
■-1 

13 

cr)o 

n 

o* 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

Y 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

Y 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

Y 

Y 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

Y 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

N 

^  3 


N 
Y 
Y 
Y 

N 
N 
N 
Y 


I 


SEC.    151.    GRADES   OF   CULTURE.  ^21 

Cook,  Darwin,  Fitzroy  and  WalHs  thought  the  Fue- 
gians  the  lowest  of  all  tribes  in  culture.  By  Burchell  that 
distinction  was  awarded  to  the  Bushmen ;  by  D'Urville 
to  the  Australians  and  Tasmanians ;  by  Forster  to  the 
Mallicollos ;  by  Owen  to  the  Andamanese ;  by  PescheP 
to  the  Botocudos  ;  by  Bailey  to  the  Veddahs  ;  by  Pick- 
ering* to  the  wild  people  in  the  interior  of  Ceram ;  by 
Fremont'  to  the  Piutes  at  Christmas  Lake ;  and  by  Waitz* 
to  the  Australians,  Bushmen  and  Fuegians.  Among 
these  tribes,  considered  by  various  authors  as  belonging 
in  the  lowest  grade  of  savagism,  the  only  cannibals  are 
the  Botocudos,  who  are  also  the  only  tribe  on  this  list, 
possessing  the  art  of  making  pottery. 

Some  Australians  have  dogs  but  no  canoes ;  the  An- 
damanese and  Fuegians  have  dogs  but  no  huts  ;  many 
western  American  tribes  dwell  in  good  huts,  though  they 
do  not  till  the  soil ;  among  the  Polynesians  and  Micro- 
nesians  tillage  preceded  pottery  ;  the  Maoris  have  polished 
stone  and  tillage  but  no  cloth  nor  pottery,  and  the  Fijians 
and  some  South  Americans  have  pottery  but  no  cloth. 
The  canoe  made  of  plank  indicates  higher  skill  than  that 
made  of  bark  or  of  a  single  log  ;  the  oar  is  higher  than  a 
paddle,  and  the  sail  higher  than  the  oar.  But  the  lack 
of  industrial  improvements  may  in  some  cases  be  charged 
tothepoverty  of  natural  resource  in  a  district,  rather  than 
to  the  stupidity  of  its  human  occupants.  It  was  impossi- 
ble to  invent  sail  boats  in  deserts,  or  pottery  in  regions 
which  produced  no  clay. 

All  the  leading  weapons  made  without  metal  were 
known  to  non-tilling  savages,  but  the  order  of  time  in 
which  they  were  introduced  is  not  now  discoverable. 
The  simplicity  of  the  spear  suggests  that  it  was  the  first 
of  missile  weapons  to  be  shaped  and  polished  with  care. 
21 


322 


A    HISTORY   OF    MANKIND. 


We  find  it  as  the  chief  weapon  of  the  Australians  and 
Tasmanians,  while  the  Bushmen,  Lower  Californians,  Fue- 
gians  and  Andamanese,  on  the  same  general  level  of  cul- 
ture, use  the  bow  in  preference,  if  not  to  the  exclusion 
of  the  spear.  The  sling  is  common  among  the  Fuegians 
and  not  among  the  Andamanese,  Bushmen  or  Austra- 
lians. The  throw-stick  and  spear-sling,  ingenious  and 
effective  devices  for  giving  additional  impetus  to  spears, 
are  not  found  among  the  most  advanced  savages,  as  the 
Polynesians,  but  are  limited  to  such  relatively  low  tribes 
as  those  of  Australia  and  New  Caledonia.  The  Fuegians 
have  fish  hooks ;  the  higher  Chippeways  and  Blackfeet 
have  none,  though  they  have  in  their  waters  an  abundance 
of  fish  suitable  for  the  hook. 

The  following  table  shows  certain  cultural  features  of 
some  advanced  tribes  : — 


Tribes. 

n 

ST 
< 

•-t 

o 

r-t- 

■    n' 

H 

CD 

B 

71 

r+    ^* 

r^ 
1 

No 
No 
No 
No 
No 
No 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 

OH 

Trnniiois  

No 
No 
No 
No 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 

No 
No 
No 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 

No 
No 
No 
No 
No 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 

No 
No 
No 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 

No 
No 
No 
No 
No 
No 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 

No 

Creeks 

Dakotas 

No 
No 

Kaffirs .              

No 

Maoris 

No 

Sanioaiis 

No 

Fijians 

Tons'ans 

Yes 
Yes 

Hawaiians 

Tahitians 

Yes 
Yes 

Sec.  152.  Some  Chai^acteinstics . — Asa  general  rule,  the 
lower  the  culture,  the  scantier  the  population.  Waitz^ 
quotes  Foissac's  estimate  that  tillage  will  support,  on 
the  same  area,  twenty  times  more  people  than  pasturage, 
and  that  pasturage  will  support  twenty  times  more  than 


SEC.    152.    SOME    CHARACTERISTICS.  323 

the  chase  or  the  gathering  of  wild  fruits  and  seeds. 
Lubbock^  allows  seventy  square  miles  for  each  savage 
hunter,  and  perhaps  bases  his  calculation  on  the  statistics 
of  the  Hudson's  Bay  territory  which,  about  1850,  had  one 
million  four  hundred  thousand  square  miles  and  one  hun- 
dred thirty-nine  thousand  aboriginal  inhabitants,  or  five 
persons,  equivalent  to  one  hunter,  for  seventy  square  miles.' 
But  much  of  that  area  is  in  a  frigid  climate,  where  vege- 
tation and  animal  life  are  very  scanty ;  and  besides,  the 
number  of  inhabitants  represents  the  condition  after  there 
had  been  a  great  decrease  in  the  number  of  wild  ani- 
mals by  slaughter  for  pelts  to  supply  the  European  market. 
The  deserts  of  Australia,  the  African  Sahara,  and  Central 
Asia  and  the  enclosed  basin  of  North  America  could  pre- 
sumably not  support  more  than  one  savage  family  to  fifty 
square  miles ;  but  these  are  regions  of  exceptional  aridity 
and  sterility.  Aboriginal  New  York  had  about  one  inhab- 
itant to  two  square  miles,  and  this  number  is  presumably 
near  the  average  of  fertile  countries  in  the  temperate 
or  torrid  zone. 

Here  and  there  we  may  find  districts  which  would 
support  a  dense  savage  population  without  tillage.  Such 
was  a  belt  aloncr  the  Columbia  River  for  four  hundred 
miles  from  its  mouth  where  the  salmon  was  exceedingly 
abundant.  Another  district  of  the  same  class  was  tliat 
extending  from  the  Mississippi  River  three  hundred 
miles  westward  between  latitudes  thirty-seven  and  forty- 
one,  where  fertile  plains  covered  with  luxuriant  grasses 
in  the  track  of  the  migrating  buffalo,  were  favorite  feed- 
ing grounds  for  them.  The  Redmen  could  cure  the 
meat  of  buffalo  and  salmon  to  keep  for  a  year,  and  could 
procure  abundant  supplies  in  the  season  of  their  migra- 
tion. 


324  A   HISTORY  OF   MANKIND. 

The  capacity  of  cultivated  land  to  support  population, 
besides  being  dependent  on  water  supply,  temperature, 
fertility,  and  method  of  tillage,  varies  much  with  the 
productiveness  and  nutritious  quality  of  different  plants. 
An  acre  of  wheat  may  yield  twelve  bushels  or  seven 
hundred  and  twenty  pounds,  enough  to  maintain  one 
average  person  for  a  year.  The  potato  crop  yields  a  hun- 
dred bushels,  or  when  reduced  to  the  same  proportion  of 
moisture,  twice  as  much  as  the  wheat,  and  enough  for 
two  persons.''  The  date  palm  bears  three  hundred  and 
sixty  pounds  of  fruit  to  the  tree,  and  an  acre  will  feed  five 
persons.*  The  bread  fruit  will  sustain  eight  persons  to 
the  acre,®  and  banana  twenty-five  persons,  its  yield  being 
one  hundred  and  twenty  times  greater  than  that  of  wheat, 
and  after  deducting  moisture,  twenty-five  times  greater.^ 

In  the  beginning  of  his  existence  as  a  race,  man's  life 
was  monotonous,  short  and  insecure.  He  had  little  cloth- 
ing and  poor  shelter  to  protect  him  against  the  inclem- 
encies of  the  weather.  His  supply  of  food  was  often  insuf- 
ficient, and  unwholesome.  He  was  constantly  surrounded 
by  danger  from  cannibal  men,  from  carnivorous  brutes 
and  from  his  own  superstitious  fears.  His  industrial 
capacities,  his  reasoning  powers,  his  moral  feelings,  and 
his  artistic  perceptions  were  undeveloped,  and  so  many 
of  the  pleasures  furnished  by  them  to  civilized  men,  were 
unknown  to  him.  As  a  race  his  condition  was  immature 
and  even  infantile.  But  even  then,  with  all  its  drawbacks, 
life  was  precious  to  him.  Conscious  existence  was  the 
greatest  of  all  blessings,  and  death  the  greatest  of  all 
evils.  He  rejoiced  when  he  escaped  from  any  immi- 
nent danger ;  he  lamented  when  his  friends  had  closed 
their  eyes  forever  to  the  sunlight. 

In  consequence  of  the  irregular  and   often  unwhole- 


SEC.    153.    DEPARTMENTAL   RELATIONS.  325 

some  food  supply,  the  frequent  and  severe  famines,"  the 
scarcity  of  accumulated  property  that  might  be  used  in 
purchasing  provisions,  the  lack  of  a  generally  accepted 
medium  of  exchange,  the  costliness  and  slowness  of  trans- 
portation, the  continuous  and  general  hostilities  prevent- 
ing migrations  to  districts  with  abundant  supplies,  and 
the  customs  of  infanticide  and  habitual  warfare,  there  is 
no  perceptible  increase  of  population  in  the  average  sav- 
age tribe  from  generation  to  generation. 

In  savagism,  war  is  almost  constant ;  life  is  short,  in- 
secure and  relatively  little  prized;  famine  is  frequent; 
regular  toil  is  without  respect  or  prominence ;  there  is 
no  governmental  protection  of  right  or  punishment  of 
crime;  religion  has  no  recognized  connection  with  mor- 
ality; the  wife  is  little  better  than  a  slave;  and  the  gen- 
eral mental  condition  is  not  much  above  that  of  the 
brute.  In  civilization  the  condition  of  men  is  much  bet- 
ter as  to  all  these  points.  Wars  are  less  frequent  and 
less  destructive,  the  average  duration  of  life  is  more  than 
double  ;  famines  are  rare  ;  toil  is  reputable  and  product- 
ive; the  popular  religion  has  a  high  ethical  standard; 
governments  are  watchful  and  efficient  in  protecting 
private  rights  ;  and  numerous  intellectual  entertainments 
are  provided  for  hours  of  leisure. 

Sec.  153,  Departmental  Relations. — The  time  has  come 
when  we  should  turn  our  attention  to  the  influences  ex- 
erted by  the  different  departments  of  savage  life  on  one 
another. 

Industry  is  the  foundation  and  main  force  of  culture. 
It  occupies  most  of  man's  time.  It  furnishes  the  sole 
support  of  his  physical  existence.  He  might  live  in  a 
brutish  muincr,  without  the  aid  of  any  other,  but  not 
without  this  department.     Jn  many  respects,  it  exercises 


326  A    HISTORY    OF    MANKIND. 

a  great  influence  on  the  other  branches  of  life.  By  its 
successive  advances,  it  enables  and  compels  man  to  or- 
ganize social  and  political  institutions. 

Among  the  branches  of  industry,  the  most  important 
is  tillage.  It  creates  a  stock  of  property  which  demands 
the  protection  of  a  strong  political  organization.  It 
makes  a  demand  for  professional  soldiers  and  gives  them 
leisure  for  military  drill.  It  builds  towns  which  are  the 
centres  of  social,  political,  intellectual,  and  ecclesiastical 
influence.  It  leads  to  the  establishment  of  slavery,  to 
habits  of  regular  toil,  and  to  the  recognition  of  the  re- 
spectability of  agricultural  labor.  Through  slavery  it 
leads  to  hereditary  nobility  and  to  stronger  political  or- 
ganization. 

Military  discipline  which  was  the  effect  of  agriculture, 
was,  in  its  turn,  the  cause  of  many  important  changes  in 
life.  It  demanded  habits  of  order,  obedience,  and  recog- 
nized responsibility.  It  gave  dominion  to  practical  judg- 
ment, to  courage,  to  tact,  and  enabled  the  men  possessing 
these  qualities  to  occupy  the  most  desirable  countries. 
It  gave  increased  security  to  life  and  property.  It 
overthrew  the  feminine  clan,  and  the  small  group  ;  it  es- 
tablished the  masculine  clan,  the  consolidated  tribe,  and 
powerful  chieftainship. 

The  masculine  clan,  in  its  turn,  overthrew  soul- wor- 
ship and  established  ancestor  worship.  The  consolidated 
tribe  led  to  the  recognition  of  tribal  divinities,  with  hered- 
itary priesthoods,  with  temples  and  pompous  ecclesiasti- 
cal ceremonies.  The  church  became  a  buttress  of  the 
State.  The  altar  and  the  throne  combined  their  forces 
to  subjugate  the  multitude,  and  though  their  yoke  was 
heavy  and  cruel,  it  was  necessary  to  the  cause  of  culture. 
Social  institutions  and   general  intellectual  activity  are 


SEC.    153.    DEPARTMENTAL    RELATIONS.  327 

effects  rather  than  causes  in  the  advance  of  savagism. 
The  greatest  power  is  industry ;  next  to  it  is  miUtary  dis- 
cipHne ;  after  that  poHty,  and  then  rehgion. 

When  we  considered  separately  the  advance  of  indus- 
try, social  life,  language,  morality,  polity  and  religion, 
we  found  much  reason  for  believing  that  each  is  a  natu- 
ral and  necessary  product  of  our  mental  constitution, 
and  that  each  grew,  in  accordance  with  general  laws, 
from  its  earliest  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  stone  cult- 
urestep,  beyond  which  our  examination  has  not  ex- 
tended. This  evidence  is  fortified  by  other  proof,  fur- 
nished by  the  relations  of  the  various  departments  of 
culture  to  one  another.  Those  branches  which  are  the 
least  spiritual,  and  for  which  the  least  claim  of  super- 
natural origin  and  aid  has  been  claimed,  are  also  those 
which  have  exerted  the  most  influence  on  general  prog- 
ress, and  out  of  which,  to  a  considerable  extent,  the 
others  have  grown.  These  are  industry  and  military  or- 
ganization, which  are  the  foundations  of  all  the  more 
advanced  political,  social,  and  ecclesiastical  systems. 
They  have  rendered  much  assistance  to  religion  and 
morals,  and  have  received  little  in  return.  That  which 
needs  and  accepts  the  help  of  natural  influences  must, 
itself,  be  natural. 

The  supposition  that  human  culture,  or  any  branch  of 
it,  is  of  supernatural  origin,  is  contradicted  by  all  the  an- 
alogies, as  well  as  by  all  the  direct  evidences  of  history 
and  science.  No  eminent  astronomer,  geologist,  chemist, 
biologist,  or  archa,'ologist  claims  to  have  found  on  his 
domain  one  unquestionable  act  of  supernatural  power. 
Under  the  uninterrupted  and  exclusive  jurisdiction  of 
natural  law,  the  celestial  bodies  shaped  their  globes, 
adopted   their   orbits,   and   regulated   their   speed;   the 


328  A    HISTORY   OF    MANKIND. 

earth  formed  its  strata,  continents,  mountains,  valleys, 
seas,  and  rivers ;  the  elements  united  by  chemical  affin- 
ity, with  definite  proportions,  into  various  minerals  each 
possessing  its  peculiar  and  invariable  crystallization- 
angle,  color,  and  specific  gravity ;  the  physical  and  psy- 
chical forces  inseparably  attached  to  matter,  changed 
their  forms  and  conserved  their  energy ;  and  plants  and 
animals  developed  their  species,  until  animated  nature 
blossomed  into  the  enlightened  man.  Nowhere  in  all 
this  wide  range  of  knowledge  connected  with  the  origin 
and  early  life  of  man  and  of  his  terrestrial  dwelling  place, 
has  scientific  or  historical  research  been  able  to  find  any- 
thing that  transcended  the  laws  of  nature.  The  tele- 
scope, microscope,  and  spectroscope,  the  scale  and  assay 
tube  of  the  chemist,  the  hammer  of  the  geologist  and 
the  spade  of  the  archaeologist,  all  make  the  same  report. 
They  have  not  anywhere  found  any  effect  that  could  be 
traced  directly  and  immediately  to  a  supernatural  cause. 

Besides,  archaeologists,  ethnologists,  and  historians 
are  agreed  that  the  numerous  events,  attributed  by  sav- 
ages to  supernatural  agency,  are,  without  exception,  the 
results  of  mere  natural  agencies.  All  the  communica- 
tions which  the  heathen  priests  claim  to  receive  from 
disembodied  spirits,  all  their  auguries,  all  their  omens, 
all  the  sorceries  which  they  pretend  to  discover  or  to 
perform,  all  the  supernatural  possessions  which  they  re- 
port,— all  these  are  results  of  delusion  or  deception. 

Sec.  154.  Queer  Customs. — ^The  queerness  of  certain 
customs  becomes  more  queer  when  we  observe  that 
they  are  found  in  regions  widely  separated  from  one  an- 
other, and  that  in  the  intervening  spaces,  they  are  un- 
known or  are  considered  absurd.  The  civilized  man 
cannot  easily  believe  that,  in  any  condition  of  culture, 


SEC.    154.    QUEER    CUSTOMS.  329 

fashion  should  make  it  obligatory  to  wear  a  large  and 
heavy  block  of  wood  or  stone,  as  an  ornament  in  a  hole 
cut  through  the  lower  lip.  In  one  case  the  hole  and  its 
bung  were  each  five  inches  long  and  three  inches  wide ; 
in  another  the  weight  was  a  pound.  A  labret  of  such 
size  and  weight,  besides  being  a  source  of  much  discom- 
fort to  the  wearer,  must  distort  the  face  and  make  it 
disgusting  to  any  spectator  of  refined  taste.  And  yet 
among  savages  such  things  were  indispensable  .to  the 
woman  of  fashion,  in  Alaska,  in  Central  America,  in 
Southern  Brazil,  and  in  Central  Africa. 

Another    custom   which,   for   its  discomfort   and   in- 
jury  to    good    looks,  and    lack    of  any    compensating 
advantage,  may  be  placed  along  side  of  labret  wearing, 
is  the  breaking  out  of  permanent  teeth,  the  sacrifice  in 
some  tribes  extending  to  four  or  even  six  of  the  front 
teeth.     In  its  extreme  phases,  this  detestable  practice  is 
limited  to  Africa,  though  in  its  milder  forms  it  extends 
to  Melanesia  and  Malaysia.    Akin  to  it,  is  the  teeth  filing 
process.     Less  productive  of  discomfort  are  the  customs 
of  flattening  the  head,  and  the  nose,  stretching  the  ears, 
cutting  out  part  of  the  ear  and  part  of  the  septum  of  the 
nose,  pulling  out  the  eyebrows  and  eyelashes,  circum- 
cision and  the  practices  akin  to  it.     Tattooing  was  a  very 
painful  process,  but  it  was  a  test  of  endurance,  and  in 
climates  where  clothing  was  very  scanty,  was  a  decora- 
tion.    The  same  remark  applies  to  the  marking  of  the 
face,  limbs  and  body  with  cicatrices.     The  tortures  in- 
flicted on  the  young  men  before  they  could  be  admitted 
into  the  warrior  class,  in  many  tribes,  seem  almost  incred- 
ibly severe  to  the  civilized  reader,  and  so  do  the  trials  of 
the  participants  in  the  divination  dance  of  the  Redmcn  to 
determine  whether  the  coming  season  is  to  be  favorable 


330  A  HISTORY  OF   MANKIND. 

to  their  military  operations  ;  but  they  had  the  practical 
purpose  of  proving  strength  and  endurance,  which  entitle 
the  possessor  to  much  more  honor  in  savagism  than  in 
civiHzation.  The  couvade  and  son-in-law  shyness,  like 
other  strange  usages  mentioned  in  this  section,  are  found 
scattered  over  various  continents  and  are  unknown  to 
extensive  intervening  regions. 

These  queer  customs  serve  to  illustrate  the  great  dif- 
ferences between  the  tastes  of  low  and  high  culture,  but 
they  give  us  little  valuable  light  on  the  influences  that 
have  aided  the  course  of  general  progress.  We  seek  in 
vain  for  reasons  why  these  customs  should  be  limited  to 
the  areas  where  we  find  them.  Whether  they  originated 
independently  in  every  district  where  they  now  exist,  or 
whether  they  once  covered  whole  continents  and  after- 
wards fell  into  desuetude  in  many  countries,  are  unsolved 
problems. 

The  extensive  modern  prevalence  of  the  feminine 
clan  in  the  widely  separated  regions  of  North  America 
and  Australia,  and  the  traces  of  its  existence  in  all  the 
other  continents,  lead  us  to  infer  that  men  had  occupied 
all  the  large  divisions  of  the  globe  before  they  accepted 
the  rule  of  paternal  descent.  The  couvade  and  son-in- 
law  shyness,  being  later  in  their  origin  than  the  mascu- 
line clan,  must  either  have  arisen  independently  in  differ- 
ent countries,  or  long  after  the  settlement  of  men  in 
them,  must  have  been  communicated  from  one  continent 
to  another.  Of  the  two  suppositions,  that  of  independ- 
ent origin  is  the  more  probable. 

Sec.  155.  Benefits  of  War. — In  every  branch  of  culture, 
evolution  has  been  marked  by  numerous  successive  im- 
provements, each  growing  out  of  older  forms,  and  all 
contributing  to  make  up  the  aggregate  of  what  we  under- 


SEC.    155.    BENEFITS    OF   WAR,  33 1 

stand  by  the  word  progress.  Each,  as  compared  with 
the  older  forms  which  it  superseded,  was  good;  and  each 
as  compared  with  the  newer  forms  by  which  it  was  re- 
placed, was  evil. 

In  one  sense  at  least,  we  may  say  of  human  institu- 
tions that  "  whatever  is,  is  right."  The  fact  that  an  insti- 
tution has  existed  is  presumptive  evidence  that  it  sup- 
plied a  want,  and  in  so  far  was  good.  If  low  and  seri- 
ously defective,  it  aided  in  the  development  of  something 
better.  Its  faults  were  instructive ;  its  evils  suggested 
and  stimulated  efforts  to  find  remedies ;  it  served  as  a 
basis  for  improvement. 

One  of  the  most  potent  means,  by  which  nature  has  pro- 
vided for  the  continuous  improvement  of  the  human  race 
in  the  lower  stages  of  culture,  is  warfare,  the  most  cruel 
of  human  institutions,  the  greatest  destroyer  of  life  and 
property,  and  in  many  respects  the  chief  enemy  of  order 
and  industry.  It  seems  contrary  to  all  the  rules  of  moral 
consistency  that  an  institution  so  full  of  evil  in  its  mo- 
tives, methods,  and  results,  should  not  only  be  the  cause 
of  many  good  effects  but  that  it  should  be  predominantly 
beneficent  in  its  results. 

Blood  and  tears  seem  to  count  for  little  or  nothing  in 
the  competition  of  life.  The  highest  end  of  nature,  per- 
ceptible to  history  or  science,  is  the  development  of  the 
human  species,  but  in  contributing  to  this  end  the  major- 
ity of  individuals  have  a  very  small  share.  In  humanity, 
as  in  organic  life  generally,  germs  greatly  outnumber 
mature  individuals.  Under  favorable  circumstances,  the 
woman  may  rear  a  dozen  children ;  in  no  country  does 
the  average  woman  rear  four.  The  germ  has  a  possibil- 
ity of  being,  but  not  a  right  to  be  born,  and  the  newly 
born  infant  has  a  possibility  but  not  a  right  of  reaching 


^^2  A   HISTORY   OF   MANKIND. 

mature  life.  The  man  has  no  right  to  a  compensation 
for  suffering.  His  hfe  is  subject  to  Hmitations,  with 
which  he  must  become  familiar  by  the  aid  of  pain.  This 
warns  him  from  danger  and  compels  him  to  engage  with 
all  his  might  in  the  struggle  for  existence.  Its  compul- 
sion is  cruel.  He  finds  little  mercy  in  frost,  fire,  hunger, 
thirst,  flood,  earthquake,  poisonous  serpent,  carnivorous 
beast  or  cannibal  man.  He  must  fight  to  escape  plunder, 
torture  and  enslavement. 

In  low  culture  there  is  little  mercy  for  those  beyond 
the  limits  of  a  small  group.  Tenderness  towards  others 
would  be  a  waste  of  energy ;  a  source  of  weakness. 
Nature  not  only  permits  but  compels  the  savage  and  the 
barbarian  to  fight  with  the  crudest  weapons,  with  devas- 
tation, with  despotism,  with  slavery  and  with  massacre. 
To  those  who  lay  waste,  and  plunder,  and  enslave  and 
slaughter  most  relentlessly, — to  the  Iroquois  and  Dakotas 
among  the  Redmen ;  to  the  Kaffirs  and  Dahomans  of 
Africa;  to  the  Assyrians  and  Persians  of  Asia,  to  the 
Romans  and  the  Teutons  of  ancient  Europe,  destiny 
has  given  the  highest  success. 

The  struggle  for  life  is  a  necessity.  Germs  are  too 
numerous  for  space,  and  in  one  way  or  another,  most 
of  them  must  be  prevented  from  reaching  their  full  de- 
velopment and  over-crowding  the  earth.  This  rule  ap- 
plies not  less  to  man  than  to  quadrupeds,  birds  and  fishes. 
Since  man  found  no  brute  more  formidable  than  himself, 
he  was  compelled  to  fight  with  his  own  kind.  War  is 
the  necessary  result  of  the  competition  of  tribes  ;  one  of 
the  leading  features  of  man's  struggle  for  life.  It  exter- 
minates or  subjugates  the  stupid,  the  cowardly,  the  phy- 
sically weak  and  the  politically  weak.  It  gives  the  best 
parts  of  the  earth  to  the  nations  of  superior  energy,  ca- 
pacity, and  courage. 


SEC.    156.    BENEFITS    OF   SLAVERY,    ETC.  333 

As  tillage  by  slaves  was  necessary  to  the  development 
of  the  highest  savage  culture,  so  war  was  indispensable 
to  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  slavery,  and  to 
the  compulsion  under  which  the  bondsmen  submitted  to 
regular  and  continuous  muscular  exertion.^  Such  toil  is 
extremely  distasteful  to  the  savage  warrior  and  he  has 
never  submitted  to  it  willingly.  Military  discipline  sup- 
plied the  means  of  coercion. 

We  can  easily  perceive  and  distinctly  trace  many  be- 
neficent influences  of  war  in  low  culturesteps.  It  com- 
pelled the  early  savages  to  dwell  together  in  groups ;  it 
established  the  customs  and  developed  the  tastes  of  so- 
cial life.  It  exterminated  those  men  who  persisted  in 
brutishly  solitary  habits,  like  those  of  anthropoid  apes. 
It  suggested  the  necessity  of  mutual  protection  by  retal- 
iation. It  demanded  the  recognition  of  chiefs,  and  gave 
them  an  authority  which  increased  as  battles  became 
more  frequent  and  more  destructive.  It  compelled  the 
feminine  clan  to  give  way  to  the  stronger  organization 
based  on  masculine  descent.  It  made  an  urgent  demand 
for  bronze  weapons  after  that  alloy  had  been  produced. 
All  through  savage  life,  it  appears  as  an  influence  potent 
in  stimulating  industry,  and  in  giving  shape  to  social  and 
political  institutions. 

Sec.  156.  Benefits  of  Slavery,  etc. — Until  male  slaves 
appeared,  there  was  no  class  that  devoted  itself  to  tillage 
that  made  it  a  study,  and  that  obtained  good  crops.  The 
large  returns,  which  it  secured,  gave  motives  for  strict  su- 
pervision ;  under  the  lash,  steady  toil  began.  As  the  food 
supply  increased,  population  became  dense.  Masters, 
relieved  from  the  task  of  hunting  for  food,  gave  more 
time  to  arms.  Military  discipline  improved,  and  with  it 
political  organization.     As  slaves  increased  in  value,  can- 


334  ^    HISTORY    OF    MANKIND. 

nibalism  decreased.*     In  many  respects,  slavery  exerted 
a  good  influence. 

Hereditary  nobility,  one  of  the  indirect  products  of 
slavery,  provided  a  body  of  subordinate  military  officials 
who  had  common  interests  with  the  despotic  chief,  and 
who  had  power  to  render  him  much  service  in  peace  and 
war.  Its  general  influence  is  to  strengthen  his  power 
and  to  make  it  durable.  Despotism  is  a  phase  through 
which  all  the  older  and  more  intellectual  nations  have 
passed  in  the  course  of  their  development. 

Sec.  157,  Benefits  of  Religion. — If  we  should  fix  our  at- 
tention exclusively  on  the  discreditable  features  of  savage 
religion,  if  we  should  remember  only  the  unreasonable- 
ness of  its  dogmas,  the  trickery  of  its  priests,  the  credu- 
lity of  its  worshipers,  the  grave  offerings,  the  fetishes, 
the  idols,  the  omens,  the  ordeals,  the  poison,  the  human 
sacrifices,  the  consecrated  torture,  cannibalism  and  op- 
pression,— if  we  should  remember  only  these  points,  we 
would  conclude  that  savage  religions  were  extremely 
pernicious  in  their  influence  on  human  life. 

But  we  must  not  restrict  our  attention  to  these  matters. 
We  must  consider  also  that  the  early  priests  used  a  power- 
ful influence  to  enforce  obligations  of  mutual  fidelity,  to  es- 
tablish general  principles  for  the  guidance  of  public  and 
private  life,  to  preserve  social  order,  to  enlarge  the  ideas 
and  to  protect  the  rights  of  property,  and  to  strengthen 
the  authority  of  the  chiefs.  Mainly  because  ecclesiasti- 
cism  has  rendered  such  services,  it  has  been  recognized 
in  every  culturestep,  as  a  valuable  police  institution,  and 
in  every  age  and  countiy  has  been  supported  by  public 
opinion. 

Among  savages  the  priests  are  the  most  intellectual 
class.     They  have  long  instruction  and  strict  subordina- 


SEC.    157.    BENEFITS    OF    RELIGIONf.  335 

ation.  They  have  advantages  of  training  not  shared  by 
other  men.  They  preserve  traditional  rules,  ancient 
legends,  and  poems,  and  the  lessons  of  accumulated  ex- 
perience. They  lay  down  fixed  principles  of  ecclesiasti- 
cal discipline,  and  political  government,  and  they  defend 
these  principles  against  advancing  progress  as  well  as 
against  inconsiderate  innovation.  As  Spencer  says,  eccle- 
siastical institutions  "  have  been  indispensable  components 
of  social  structures  from  the  beginning  down  to  the  pres- 
ent time.'" 

The  funeral,  one  of  the  first  ecclesiastical  observances, 
brings  the  village  or  the  clan  together  in  a  common  wor- 
ship, multiplies  and  strengthens  attachments  among  the 
villagers  or  clan  members,  and  suspends  or  composes 
their  quarrels.  The  political  dominion  and  the  ecclesi- 
astical organization  keep  pace  with  each  other,  in  their 
onward  march.  The  religion  is  as  extensive  as  the  alle- 
giance, first  clannish,  then  tribal,  then  national.  The 
devotees  of  the  same  clannish  or  tribal  god  cannot  be 
enemies  to  one  another ;  those  of  different  gods  cannot 
be  friends.  The  precepts  of  religion  became  the  laws  of 
the  State,  as  the  priests  became  the  allies  of  the  chiefs. 

The  assertion  that  the  general  influence  of  the  lowest 
savage  religions  has  been  beneficial,  does  not  imply  an 
acceptance  of  the  doctrine  that  the  end  justifies  the 
means,  or  of  the  still  more  objectionable  idea  that  there 
is  no  difference  between  right  and  wrong,  as  seen  from  a 
culture-historical  standpoint.  It  means  that  human  nat- 
ure is  imperfect  and  progressive ;  that  therefore  the  good 
of  one  culturestep  becomes  evil  to  its  successor;  and 
that  savage  religions  are  adopted  as  ends  not  as  means. 
We  must  not  pronounce  them  predominantly  perni- 
cious merely  because  they  have  ceased  to  harmonize  with 
the  ideas  of  a  later  age. 


336  A   HISTORY   OF   MANKIND. 

Sec.  158.  Uses  of  Evil. — We  shall  not  justly  estimate 
the  beneficial  influences  of  war,  slavery  and  religion,  in 
early  culture,  unless  we  have  a  correct  idea  of  the  rela- 
tion of  evil  in  general  to  mankind.  We  are  so  consti- 
tuted that  evil  is  a  necessity  to  our  intellectual  and  moral 
growth.  It  is  the  basis  and  the  source  of  all  good.  Its 
absolute  destruction  is  impossible  and  undesirable.  It  is 
an  indispensable  accompaniment  of  a  progressive  life.  It 
is  our  only  stimulant  to  exertion.  It  is  the  only  spur  of 
our  ambition.  It  is  the  sphere  of  our  occupation ;  the  field 
in  which  we  develop  our  capacities  and  gain  our  triumphs. 
Without  it,  life  would  be  insipid,  worthless  and  worse 
than  brutish ;  it  would  be  merely  negative.  It  is  the 
conscious  struggle  against  evil  that  distinguishes  the  ani- 
mal from  the  plant.  If  the  time  ever  could  and  should 
come  for  the  disappearance  of  evil  from  the  earth,  then 
mankind  would  sit  down  in  a  repose  equivalent  to  intel- 
lectual and  moral  death.  Wants  increase  with  the  mental 
growth  of  humanity,  but  in  most  cases,  they  are  slight 
evils ;  and  in  their  main  characteristics,  they  are  the  pre- 
liminaries and  necessary  preparations  for  enjoyment. 

No  matter  how  much  man  has,  he  always  wants  more. 
So  it  has  always  been ;  so  it  will  ever  be.  His  needs  are 
insatiable.  His  conflict  with  evil  is  marked  by  successes 
almost  infinite  in  number,  and  generally  inappreciably 
small  in  their  benefits  and  yet  beneficial.  The  sum  of 
his  encroachments  on  its  domain  is  progress.  Its  in- 
destructible and  universal  character  is  the  only  guaran- 
tee that  life  shall  never  lose  its  interest ;  that  man  shall 
never  be  without  employment ;  that  toil  shall  ever  find 
its  reward ;  that  idleness  and  stupidity  shall  never  be- 
come dormant  influences  in  society;  that  the  physical 
forces  of  nature  shall  continue  to  become  more  and  more 


SEC.    158.   USES  OF  EYIL.  33/ 

subject  to  man's  dominion  ;  that  the  worst  poHtical,  so- 
cial and  ecclesiastical  abuses,  inherited  from  the  past, 
shall  be  reformed;  that  crime  shall  diminish  ;  that  educa- 
tion, science,  art,  truth,  justice,  freedom,  peace,  kindness, 
mutual  helpfulness  and  careful  regard  for  the  feelings  of 
others  shall  grow  more  and  more  potent,  and  that  mate- 
rial, moral  and  intellectual  progress,  arm  in  arm  with  their 
congenial  associate,  general  enjoyment,  shall  continue 
their  glorious  triumphal  march,  with  speed  increasing  in 
geometrical  ratio,  so  long  as  mankind  shall  exist. 


32 


APPENDIX. 

This  appendix  has  three  main  purposes:  first,  to  assist  the 
reader  in  finding  information,  additional  to  that  given  in  the  text; 
second,  to  enable  him  to  verify  statements  that  may  appear  ques- 
tionable to  him;  and  third,  to  give  deserved  credit  to  those  au- 
thors who  have  rendered  valuable  service  in  reference  to  the  his- 
tory of  culture. 

References  are  made  by  preference,  to  those  authors  who  have 
treated  the  customs  and  institutions  of  savage  life  comprehensively. 
Such  are  Waitz,  Spencer,  Lippert,  Klemm,  Peschel,  and  Wood; 
and  of  these  all,  save  the  last,  have  given  numerous  citations. 
When  I  refer  to  them,  I  refer  to  all  their  authorities. 

The  books  which,  in  the  scope  of  their  information,  come  the 
nearest  to  this  first  volume,  are  arranged  ethnologically.  That  is, 
they  take  up  each  family  or  tribe  separately,  and  tell  us  how  they 
live  and  what  they  think.  First  in  comprehensiveness  and  merit, 
among  such  works  are  those  of  Spencer,  Waitz,  Klemm,  Wood, 
and  Peschel.  Separate  branches  of  culture  have  been  treated 
with  much  learning  and  original  thought  by  Spencer,  Lippert, 
Tylor,  and  Lubbock.  There  is,  however,  a  lack  of  a  comprehen- 
sive history  of  savage  culture,  and  this  book  is  offered  in  the  hope 
that  it  may  aid  to  supply  the  want. 

At  the  end  of  the  appendix  will  be  found  a  list  of  the  books  to 
which  I  refer.  In  the  citations,  abbreviations  will  be  used.  Thus 
Spencer  P.  S.  means  Herbert  Spencer's  Principles  of  Sociology; 
Lubbock  O.  C.  means  Lubbock's  Origin  of  Civilizalion.  In  most 
of  the  citations,  volumes  are  meant  by  Roman  and  pages  by  Ara- 
bic numerals,  but  there  are  some  exceptions,  as  in  citations  from 
the  Bible,  from  Spencer's  Principles  of  Sociology  and  its  continua- 
tions, to  which  reference  is  made  by  section;  from  Spencer's  De- 
scriptive Sociology  and  Waltz's  Anthropologie ,  which  the  reader 
will  understand  on  examination. 

(338} 


APPENDIX.  339 

NOTES. 

Pre/ace.— duller  S.  L.  ii.  4.  -"The  problem  of  history  is  to 
trace  the  process  by  which  the  present  has  been  evolved  from  the 
past."  Hearn,  15.  *  I  hope  that  the  arrangement  of  my  book  into 
periods,  will  be  found  to  possess  some  merit.  Upon  the  import- 
ance of  a  correct  classification  of  the  ideas  in  a  history  of  culture, 
the  following  passage  from  Flint  (128)  deserves  attention:  "Now, 
nothing  can  be  more  important,  in  any  attempt  at  a  philosophical 
delineation  of  the  course  of  history,  than  the  division  into  periods. 
That  ought  of  itself  to  exhibit  the  plan  of  the  development,  the 
line  and  distance  already  traversed,  and  the  direction  of  the  future 
movement.  It  should  be  made  on  a  single  principle,  so  that  the 
series  of  periods  shall  be  homogeneous,  but  on  a  principle  so  fund- 
amental and  comprehensive,  as  to  pervade  the  history  not  only  as 
a  whole  but  in  each  of  its  elements,  and  to  be  able  to  furnish  guid- 
ance to  the  historian  of  any  special  development  of  human  knowl- 
edge and  life.  The  discovery  and  proof  of  such  a  principle  is  one 
of  the  chief  services  which  the  philosophy  of  history  may  be  legiti- 
mately expected  to  render  to  the  historians  of  science,  of  religion, 
of  morality,  and  of  art.  And  if  it  fail  to  render  this  service,  that 
can  only  be  because  it  has  failed  to  accomplish  its  own  distinctive 
and  proper  work, — failed  to  grasp  and  follow  the  thread  that  guides 
through  the  labyrinth  of  history,  and  allows  the  mind  to  trace  in 
some  measure,  its  plan  and  to  conjecture  with  some  degree  of 
probability,  its  purpose.  But  failure  is  very  possible,  success  very 
difficult.  No  superficial  glance  can  detect,  nor  happy  accident  dis- 
close, the  true  principle  of  historical  division,  any  more  than  of 
botanical  or  zoological  classification."  ■'For  a  history  of  the 
word  kiiltur  or  cultur  (culture),  as  used  in  German  literature, 
see  Klemm  C.  W.  37.     *See  definition  of  Industrie  in  Littr^. 

NOTES. 

Sec.  I.  Man^s  Antiquity. — 'For  evidence  that  man  has  existed 
on  the  earth  fur  thousands  of  gcuL-rations,  see  Lyell  (A.  M.),  Gei- 
kie,  CroU,  Dawkins  (C.  H.),  and  Lulibock  (P.  T.),  Ch.  xii.  In 
reference  to  marks  of  human  labor  found  in  Swiss  lignite  in  the 
glacial  period,  see  Dawkins  E.  M.  155.  '^Darwin  D.  M.  i.  191, 
Wallace  D.     ^Waitz  i.  125,    151. 

Sec.  2.  Simiati  Relations. — ^Waitz  i.  106.  V<&.  iv.  321.  ^Klemm 
C.  G.  i.  285.  «Waitz  i.  112.  '-> lb.  '^Ib.  '.Spencer  P.  S.  25, 
Waitz  i.  III.    «Peschel  80.      '.Spencer  P.  S.  22.     "Dawkins  C. 


^40  APPENDIX. 

H.  112.  "Darwin  D.  M.  Ch.  i.  ^nVaitz  i.  1 1 r .  '^7».  '*Peschel 
79.  i^Waitz  i.  III.  ^''Cope  2S6.  ^^Waitz  i.  120.  ^^ lb.  i.  no. 
'*The  superior  strength  of  the  savage  women  as  compared  with 
the  men,  has  been  observed  by  many  travelers.  Kohl.  (4)  says 
that  among  the  Chippeways,  they  are  more  muscular.  Cooper 
(95)  observes  that  in  Polynesia,  they  are  the  best  divers.  Wood 
(i.  434)  tells  us  they  are  the  best  swimmers  in  the  Pacific  islands  and 
the  West  Indies.  Eniin  Pasha  (229)  remarks  that  in  Central  Africa, 
they  carry  heavier  burdens.  Livingstone  (L.  J.  196)  considered 
them  the  best  porters  in  South  Africa.  Similar  testimony  comes 
from  Burton  (G.  L.  214),  Du  Chaillu  (E.  A.,  76).  Mohr  (213), 
Houghton  (100,  322),  and  Ernouf  (270). 

In  reference  to  the  early  decay  of  savage  women,  see  Catlin  i. 
121;  Dodge  O.  W.  I.  146;  Cremony  46;  Bonwick  D.  L.  85; 
Emin  Pasha  95,  117.  Berthet  482.  Livingstone  S.  A.  142,  F. 
Muller  98. 

As  to  the  physical  peculiarities  of  different  races,  one  of  the  best 
authorities  is  Quatrefages. 

Sec.  3.  Size. — 1  Hartman  65,  Emin  Pasha  3,  316.  ^Spencer  P. 
S.  26.     ^Jb.     'lb.     ^Ib.     ^Ib.     ^Ib.     ^Ib. 

Sec.  4.  Acute  Senses. — ^  Melville  T.  78,  Wood  ii.  208,  Bowring 
135.     '^Lippert  K.  G.  i.  73.     ^Chapman  i.  400. 

Sec.  5.  Vitality. — ^An  Indian  on  horseback,  shot  at  the  junction 
of  the  pelvis  and  thigh,  breaking  both  bones,  rode  one  hundred 
miles;  a  white  man  would  have  fallen  at  once  from  the  horse  and 
never  moved.  Dodge  H.  G.  339.  The  Mexican  Indian  "recov- 
ers easily  from  wounds  that  would  kill  any  European  outright." 
Tylor  Anahuac  48;  Cremony  257.  ^Waitz  i.  141.  ^ lb.  142. 
^jb.  ^Monteiro  i.  72.  For  the  insensibility  of  the  North  Ameri- 
can Indians  to  pain,  see  Klemm  i.  264;  for  Alaskans,  Lisiansky 
242;  for  Patagonians,  Guinnard  75;  for  Polynesians,  Cooper  i. 
194;  for  Australians,  Latham  V.  M.  243;  for  Bechuanas,  Wood  1. 
325;  for  Damaras,  lb.  340;  for  Guiana,  lb.  ii.  616.  Pickering  (64) 
says  Polynesians  never  took  cold  till  they  began  to  wear  clothes; 
and  Keller  (89)  says  of  the  aborigines  on  the  bank  of  the  Amazon, 
"  Bathing  in  the  river  immediately  after  meals  is  a  luxury  invaria- 
bly indulged  by  all  the  Indians,  and  I  never  remarked  that  it  was 
attended  by  any  evil  consequences  to  them."  HVinchell  178. 
'Domenech  ii.  295.     ^ Spencer  P.  S.  i.  29.     ^Baegert  Ch.  vii. 

Sec.  6.  Habits.^^WcCxtz  vi.  729;  Wood  i.  256.  -Cook  ii.  61, 
Melville  T.  257.     ^james  92.     *Scherzer  iii.  414. 


APPENDIX.  341 

Sec.  7.  Savagism  Disappearing. — 1  For  the  decrease  of  the 
aborigines  in  South  America  and  the  West  Indies,  see  Waitz  iii. 
399,  449;  iv.  332,  337;  in  the  basins  of  the  Amazon  and  Madeira 
Rivers,  Keller  5,  11,  Orton  316;  for  Arowaks  and  Caribs,  Waitz 
iii.  300;  for  Patagonia,  Guinnard  133;  for  Dutch  Guiana,  Pal- 
grave  D.  G.  82;  Brett  496;  for  North  America,  Annual  Report  of 
the  Smithsonian  histitute  for  18S4-5,  ii-  882,  908,  912;  for  Califor- 
nia, Overland  Monthly,  June  18S8;  for  Alaska  under  Russia,  Waitz 
iii.  373;  for  Labrador,  Hind  i.  85;  for  Mosquito  Coast,  Squier  C. 
A.  231;  for  Eskimos,  Spencer  D.  S.  vi.  i;  for  Equatorial  Africa, 
Du  Chaillu  E.  A.  41,  435,  Burton  G.  L.  77;  for  Polynesia, 
Scherzer  iii.  138,  225;  Ellis  P.  R.  i.  106;  Waitz  i.  180;  for  Ha- 
waii, Kalakaua  23;  for  Lavavai,  Moerenhout  i.  143;  for  Fiji, 
Cumming  L.  C.  32;  for  Australia,  Fison  and  Hovvitt  182;  for 
South  Australia,  Forster  S.  A.  426;  and  for  all  savage  countries, 
Quatrefages  419,  428.  -Ballon  32.  ^Green  77.  ^Commissioners 
of  U.  S.  Indian  affairs,  Report  for  1872.  HVaitz  v.  149,  162.  ^Ib. 
i.  455;  Melville  O.  239.  Prichard  H.  M.  ii.  611.  '  Dodge  W. 
I.  295;   Pop.    Sci.    Monthly,  June,  1886.      « Livingstone  L.  J.     42. 

Gerland  (Waitz  vi.  828)  accuses  the  British  Colonists  in  Aus- 
tralia of  slaughtering  the  aborigines.  The  following  passage  is 
part  of  his  denunciation:  "The  Australians  are  destined  to  disap- 
pear as  a  race — at  least  all  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  English  col- 
onies. They  owe  their  destruction  not  to  their  own  rudeness  and 
incapacity  for  improvement,  but  to  English  civilization,  which  is 
pervaded  not  by  benevolence  but  by  the  meanest  and  hardest 
greed,  using  refinement  as  a  cloak,  while  leaving  the  ignorant  ab- 
origines without  help,  to  fall  into  deeper  demoralization.  This  is 
the  answer  to  the  doubts  whicli  Wallace  felt  in  regard  to  European 
culture  when  he  compared  tlie  friendly  and  honest  intercourse  of 
the  natives  in  the  market  of  Doblxj  with  the  strife  and  trickery  of 
P^uropeans.  Those  natives  were  rude  but  not  debased;  we  are 
debased  but  not  rude.  The  soil  on  which  the  oft  and  loudly 
praised  prosperity  of  the  colonies  blooms  has  been  manured  with 
blood  and  the  blackest  crimes.  The  future  belongs  to  them.  His- 
tory knows  no  law  of  moral  retaliation,  least  of  all  in  reference  to 
the  slaughtered  colored  man." 

Gerland  has  never  been  in  Australia;  Anthony  TroUope,  who 
was  there,  and  is  a  man  of  close  observation  and  good  judgment, 
justifies  the  British  colonists  for  their  general  policy  (A.  N.  Z.  i. 
74).     He  says  the  Australians  cannot  be  civilizcxl  (C.  70,  ii.  85). 


342  APPENDIX. 

Foster  entertains  the  same  opinion  of  them  (S.  A.  423).  Horna- 
day  (443),  who  had  excellent  opportunities  to  observe  some  of  the 
Pacific  islanders,  says  that  to  civilize  is  to  exterminate  them.  Cre- 
mony  (193)  thinks  the  Apaches  will  never  accept  civilization. 

Mrs.  H.  H.  Jackson's  Century  of  Dishonor  is  a  complaint  of 
four  hundred  printed  pages  against  the  government  and  people  of 
the  United  States  for  the  manner  in  which  they  have  treated  the 
aborigines.  She  spent  much  time  and  labor  in  collecting  her  ma- 
terial, and  she  cites  many  authorities  to  sustain  her  accusations  of 
gross  and  systematic  bad  faith  and  cruelty.  Not  having  investi- 
gated her  evidence  carefully,  I  will  not  venture  to  assert  that  she 
is  wrong;  but  I  do  say  that  I  have  no  confidence  in  her  statement 
or  conclusion.  I  have  had  occasion  to  examine  her  novel  Ramona, 
written  to  give  what  she  believed  to  be  a  true  picture  of  the  culture 
and  the  wrongs  of  the  Mission  Indians  of  California,  and  I  found 
that  I  could  not  trust  her,  as  to  questions  of  either  fact  or  law. 
Some  of  the  reasons  for  my  distrust  are  given  in  the  Overland 
Monthly,  June,  18S8.  That  many  and  great  wrongs  have  beeft 
done  to  the  Indians  in  the  United  States  by  the  whites  is  admitted 
by  all  competent  judges  who  have  lived  near  the  aborigines,  but 
many  and  great,  and  probably  more  and  greater  wrongs  have 
been  done  by  the  Redmen. 

The  aborigines  of  Australia  die  of  consumption  when  they  are 
brought  up  in  houses  (Forster  420)  as  do  those  of  California.  Ov- 
erland Monthly,  ]\x\\&,  1888. 

Sec.  8.  Savage  History. — The  statement  here  made  that  "every 
savage  tribe  has  remained,  through  its  whole  known  career,  in  the 
same  or  nearly  the  same  culturestep,"  should  have  been  qualified 
so  as  to  make  it  harmonize  completely  with  the  mention  in  section 
12  of  the  rise  of  some  Malays  from  savagism  to  barbarism.  It  is 
true,  for  the  last  four  centuries,  of  all  savage  communities  whose 
history  is  well  known  to  us  and  which  have  not  been  influenced  by 
a  large  admixture  of  alien  blood. 

Sec.  9.  Races. — Klemm  (C.  G.  i.  198)  divides  mankind  into  two 
races,  the  active  and  the  passive.  The  active  or  white  comprises 
the  Aryans  and  Semites;  the  passive  or  colored  comprises  all 
others.  For  the  former  he  claims  strong  will,  mental  activity,  in- 
vestigating disposition,  fondness  for  innovation,  boldness  in  navi- 
gation and  migration,  readiness  to  overthrow  old  governments  and 
establish  new  ones,  ambition  to  secure  freedom  for  themselves 
while  subjecting  others  to  bondage,  and  capacity  to  carry  science, 


APPENDIX.  343 

philosophy  and  general  culture  to  their  highest  forms.  The  passive 
race  is,  according  to  him,  stationary  in  population,  dull  in  mind,  and 
content  with  inherited  ideas  and  institutions. 

Klemm's  classification  has  found  little  favor,  and  after  forcible 
criticism  it  is  rejected  by  Waitz  i.  259,  387,  394.  Latham,  whom  I 
follow,  has  three  races,  white,  yellow  and  black.  Pickering,  a  high 
authority,  has  four,  white,  brown,  blackish  brown  and  black. 
Blumenbach  has  five,  Caucasian  or  white,  Mongolian  or  yellow, 
Ethiopian  or  black,  American  or  red  and  Malay  or  brown.  Pritch- 
ard  and  Peschel  have  seven,  and  several  other  authorities  have 
larger  numbers. 

I  attach  little  value  to  the  classification  of  races  on  the  basis  of  the 
shape  of  the  skull.  The  dolichocephalic  and  the  brachycephalic 
forms  are  found  in  every  ethnological  family,  as  individual  vari- 
ations, and  they  are  therefore  very  unsafe  tests  of  race  distinction. 
The  Scandinavians  generally  have  long  heads  and  Slavonians  broad 
heads,  and  yet  both  are  Ar>'an. 

Language  is  not  a  safe  basis  for  classifying  tribes  in  every  case. 
For  the  number  of  languages  see  Waitz  i.  279. 

The  best  ethnological  maps  known  to  me  are  those  in  Waitz,  the 
Iconographic  Encyclopedia  and  Bastian. 

Sec.  10.  Australians,  etc. — Good  authorities  in  reference  to  all  of 
the  ethnological  families  are  Waitz,  Wood,  Klemm,  Peschel  and 
Spencer,  D.  S. 

Sec.  II.  Negroes,  etc. — Featherman  has  collected  much  infor- 
mation about  the  Nigritians  as  he  terms  them. 

Sec.  12.  ATalays,  etc. — 'Fornander  claims  that  in  blood  and  fun- 
damental features  of  language  the  Polynesians  belong  to  the  Aryan 
family.  '■'For  similarity  of  Hovas  to  Polynesians  in  customs  see 
Waitz  i.  432. 

Sec.  13.  Polynesians. — ^  Waitz  vi.  339.  Of  the  Tahitians  Lubbock 
(P.  T.  469)  says.  "They  may  be  taken  as  representing  the  highest 
stage  in  civilization  to  which  man  has  in  any  country  raised  himself 
before  the  discovery  or  introduction  of  metallic  implements." 
This  statement  should  be  (jualified  by  the  addition  "in  modern 
times."  The  Swiss  lake  dwellers  in  the  stone  culturestep  had 
herds  and  pottery,  unknown  to  the  Tahitians,  and  were  therefore 
superior  to  them. 

Sec.  14.  Redmen. — ^  Latham  V.  RI.  356.  Bancroft  iii.  553.  The 
tongue  of  the  Otomis  in  Me.xico  is  monosyllabic,  and  is  unlike  any 
Other  in  America.     Bancroft  iii.  737.     '^  Waitz  iii.  57.     =*  lb.   i.  292. 


344  APPENDIX. 

Sec.  15.  Mound- Builders. — ^Maclean  M.  B.  15.  Something 
further  about  the  works  of  the  Mound-Builders  may  be  found  in  the 
sections  relating  to  fortifications  and  temples.  The  chief  authori- 
ties in  reference  to  the  Mound-Builders  are  Maclean,  Carr,  Carr  and 
Shaler,  Jones,  Lapham,  Foster,  and  vSquier  and  Davis.  Lubbock 
P.  T.  Ch.  viii.  gives  a  good  summary  of  the  information.  The 
Buraets  of  Siberia  have  hearths  of  beaten  clay,  similar  to  those 
found  in  the  American  mounds.  Lubbock  P.  T.  Ch.  viii.  Carr 
(M.  M.  V.  29S)  made  a  calculation  that  a  Redman,  with  such  tools 
as  he  had  before  the  appearance  of  the  white  men  in  America, 
could,  in  one  day,  dig  and  carry  a  cubic  yard  of  earth  far  enough 
for  the  construction  of  a  mound  13  feet  high  and  40  feet  in  di- 
ameter. Such  a  mound  contains  231  cubic  yards  and  could  be 
raised  by  one  man  in  231  days.  Jones  (170)  thinks  that  75  yards 
would  be  a  year's  work  for  an  Indian. 

No  cast  copper  in  America  north  of  INlexico.  Jones,  47.  The 
Mound-Builders,  the  same  in  culture  and  blood  as  the  Georgia 
Indians  in  the  XVIth  century.    Jones  135.     Lapham  25,  26,  29. 

Sec.  16.  Aleut  Mounds.— ^Vi?\\  N.  W.  51.  '' lb.  ^  lb.  55.  ^  lb.  81. 
^  lb.  66,  70.  ^  lb.  80.  \\\  a  private  letter  tome,  M.  Dall  says,  "With 
blazing  volcanoes  all  along  the  archipelago,  they  [the  Aleuts]  could 
not  but  have  known  of  fire,  whether  they  used  it  or  not. ' ' 

Sec.  17.  Pleistocene  Europeans. — ^Dawkins  E.  M.  155.  '^Whit- 
ney. ^Dawkins  E.  ]\I.  205.  Lippert  K.  G.  i.  334.  ■•  Dawkins  C. 
H.  341.     ^  lb.  E.  M.  221,  222. 

Summaries  of  the  information  about  the  Pleistocene  Europeans 
will  be  found  in  Dawkins  C.  H.  and  E.  M.,  Lubbock  P.  T.,  Lyell 
A.  M.  Ch.  X.  and  Stevens. 

As  to  shell  mounds  generally,  see  Stevens  193,  197. 

Sec.  18.  Danish  Mounds. — 'Lyell  8-17. 

Good  summaries  of  the  information  about  the  Danisli  mounds 
may  be  found  in  Lyell  A.  M.  Ch.  ii.  and  in  Lubbock  P.  T. 

Sec.  19.  Swiss  Lake  Dwellings. — The  chief  authorities  are 
Keller,   Lubbock  P.  T.,  Dawkins  E.  M.  and  Lyell  A.  M.  Ch.  li. 

Sec.  20.  Fire. — ^The  question  whether  any  tribe,  in  modern 
times,  has  been  ignorant  of  fire,  has  been  discussed  by  Tylor  P.  C. 
Ch.  ix.,  Lubbock  P.  T.  Ch.  xvi. -and  Lippert  K.  G.  i.  513.  -Lub- 
bock P.  T.  Ch.  xiii.  ^Lippert  K.  G.  i.  279.  *As  to  kindling  ap- 
paratus, see  engravings  in  Tylor  E.  H.  Ch.  ix.  and  Joly  191.  Flint 
and  pyrites  used  to  strike  fire  in  Swiss  lake  dwellings.    J0I3'  179. 

Volcanic,  fumaroles  on  the  Solomon  Islands  are  used  now  for 


APPENDIX.  345 

cooking-  (Guppy,  86);  as  are  solfataras  and  boiling  springs  in  many 
countries. 

Sec.  21.  Non-iilling  Culture. — ^For  descriptions  of  the  methods 
of  making  flint  knives,  with  illustrative  engravings,  see  Lubbock 
P.  J.  Ch.  iv.,  Evans,  and  Carr  and  Shaler.  ^  Numerous  prehistoric 
flint  mines  have  been  found  near  Brandon,  England;  where  one 
of  the  shafts  is  thirty  feet  deep.  A  mine  of  chert,  with  a  shaft  six 
feet  deep,  in  Licking  County,  Ohio,  supplied  material  for  knives 
and  arrowheads  to  the  Redmen  in  the  vicinity. 

The  words  palaeolithic  and  neolithic  were  first  used  by  Lubbock 
P.  J.  2. 

For  list  of  stone  implements  in  the  museums  of  Copenhagen  and 
Stockholm,  see  Lubbock  P.  T.  i6. 

For  evidences  of  a  time  when  the  best  edge  tools  were  of  stone 
in  many  countries,  see  Tylor  E.  H.  Ch.  viii.     Sayce  A.  E.   E.  2. 

Sec.  22.  Tilling  Savagism. — Marsh,  in  his  Earth  as  modified  by 
Man,  accepts  Gomara's  statement  that  the  buffalo  had  been  tamed 
in  part  of  North  America;  but  we  are  now  familiar  with  all  portions 
of  the  continent  in  which  the  buffalo  could  live,  and  there  is  no 
trace  of  its  domestication  anywhere.  There  is  no  reason  to  believe 
that  Gomara  had  any  good  evidence  for  his  assertion. 

Sec.  23.  Spear,  Bows,  etc. — ^  For  description  and  engraving  of 
the  spear-sling  see  Wood  ii.  29,  206.  Bonwick  D  L.  43.  ^For 
description  of  the  throw-stick  and  the  method  of  using  it,  with 
illustrative  engravings,  see  Wood  ii.  43,  706,  709.  ^Waitz  iii.  308. 
*  Joly  232.  ^  Bougainville  says  the  bolas  are  effective  at  a  distance 
of  300  yards,  but  this  is  evidently  a  mistake  for  300  feet.  Darwin 
(J.  R.  Ch.  iv.)  says  they  can  be  thrown  effectively  180  feet  by  a  man 
on  foot,  and  240  feet  by  a  man  on  horseback,  in  the  latter  case 
being  aided  by  his  greater  elevation  and  the  impetus  of  the  run- 
ning horse.     ^  Klemm  C.  G.  ii.  17. 

Methods  of  poisoning  weapons.     Stevens  259-263. 

Method  of  giving  toughness  to  brittle  wood  intended  for  bows. 
Powers  373. 

Method  of  making  arrowheads.  .Stevens  77-85.  Powers  374. 
Twenty  arrows  shot  in  a  minute.     Catlin  i.  32. 

Distribution  of  stone  implements.     Stevens  113-118,  187-192. 

Sec.  24.  Clubs,  etc. — 'Tylor  E.  H.  205.  -Wood  i.  255.  ^Ban- 
croft i.  361.  'Bourke  S.  D.  M.  250.  ''Baker  N.  T.  511. 
Scherzer  iii.  31.     '  Lippert  K.  C}.  i.  302. 

For  description  of  tiie  I)ak(;la  shield  and  method  of  making  it, 
Catlin  i.  241. 


346  APPENDIX. 

Madras  Hill  tribes  have  boomerang.     Hunter  82. 

Engravings  of  Hawaiian  weapons.     Kalakaua  13. 

Sec.  25.  Omnivorous. — The  supposition  that  man  is  naturally  a 
vegetarian  does  not  find  the  least  support  in  the  customs  of  sav- 
ages. No  tribe  abstains  willingly  from  animal  food.  The  Chim- 
panzee is  carnivorous  and  herbivorous.      Romanes  36S. 

Intense  desire  for  fat  after  restriction  to  lean  meat,  Darwin  T. 
R.  Ch.  vi. 

Sec.  26.  Bread  and  Meat.—^]o\\Qs  135.  Herndon  76.  Evans 
224. 

Wild  lettuce  flavored  by  ants.     Powers  425. 

Sec.  27.  Daintiness.—^  Bancroft  i.  55.  Guppy  92.  Living- 
stone L.  J.  394. 

Sec.  28.  6a//a«rf  a«y.— iWaitz  iii.   431.    Clark  325.     CatHn   i. 

24. 

Sec.  29.  Cannibalism. — ^Wood  i.  272.  ^  Dodge  H.  G.  419. 
2  Bancroft  i.  490.  *  Brooke  i.  209.  Pickering  304.  *  In  regard  to 
the  wide  prevalence  of  cannibalism,  see  Lippert  K.  G.  ii.  279,  and 
Andree  2-5.  As  to  its  existence  in  prehistoric  times,  see  Geikie 
377.  Bunyabunya  cannibahsm  Trollope  66.  "Powell  129. 
^Lubbock  P.  J.  Ch.  xiii.  ^Romilly  58,  59.  » Lippert  K.  G.  i. 
248. 

Sec.  30.  a70/&/«^.—i  Authority  lost.  ^Waitz  vi.  53.  ^  Lippert 
K.  G.  i.  359.  *  Harris  16.  ^^DaU  T.  E.  N.  81.  ^wilkes  v.  95. 
» Authority  lost.  *  Clark  115.  » Livingstone  Z.  143.  '"Catlin  i. 
124,  Kane  78,  Clark  219,  Waitz  ii.  443.  ^^Kohl.  319.  ^"  lb. 
"/<5.  320.  "Beechey  ii.  399.  ^^Wood  ii.  148,  Fletcher  and  Kid- 
der 188,  189.  i«  Livingstone  L.  J.  93.  ^^  Thomson  A.  L.  i.  157. 
"Hooker  342.     ^^ Powell  20.     ^e Melville  O.  338.     ^iQuppygo. 

How  green  maize  is  preserved.     Kohl.  300. 

How  arrowroot  is  prepared.     Pickering  326. 

Method  of  making  acorn  bread.     Powers  150,  187. 

Description  of  bamboo  boiling  pot.     Low.  37. 

Sec.  31.  Meals. — The  Kaffir  has  only  one  regular  meal  daily,  an 
hour  before  bedtime.  The  only  nourishment  taken  at  other  times 
is  sour  milk.     Muller  1S9. 

Sec.  32,  Grinding.—^  Lippert  K.  G.  i.  292.  « 75,  3  Schwein- 
furth  ii.  424.  Parkyns  i.  307. 

Sec.  33  Water  and  Milk.—^  Wood  i.  103,  ii.  208.  Spencer  D. 
S.  iv.  43.  2 Livingstones.  A.  59,  ^Wood  i.  147.  "Lippert  K. 
G.  i.  538- 


APPENDIX.  347 

Sec.  34.  Beer,  etc. — ^Park\ais  ii.  341.  -Gibbon  307.  *  Spen- 
cer D.  S.  iii.  3.  Emin  Pasha  207.  ^  Gumming  H.  F.  51. 
*  Gumming  L.  G.  i.  90.  ^  Pop.  Set.  Monthly,  Dec.  1886,  209;  St. 
Johnston  39;  Barnes  49,  192. 

Sec.  35.  Narcotics. — Burton  (L.  R.  65)  says  that  every  man  in 
TJjiji  carries  "  a  diminutive  pot  .  .  .  nearly  full  of  tobacco;  when 
inclined  to  indulge,  he  fills  it  with  water,  expresses  the  juice,  and 
from  the  palm  of  his  hand,  snuffs  it  up  into  his  nostrils,"  which  he 
tlien  closes  with  his  fingers,  or  with  pincers,  for  a  few  seconds. 
-  Gatlin  i.  234.  ^Tennent  i.  114.  Guppy  (96)  tri^d  the  betel  and 
found  nothing  in  it  to  praise.  *  Humboldt  Gh.  xxiv.  ^Waitz  v. 
183.  ^Klemm  C.  G.  i.  iti.  '  Humboldt  Gh.  ix.  ^  lb.  Ch.  xxiv. 
^Featherman  i.  368.  i"  Herndon  388.  ^' Klemm  G.  G.  i.  in. 
^- Waitz  iii.  312.  ^^  Harris  323.  '^  Waitz  iii.  473.  ^^  Lippert  K.  G.  i. 
625.     i6  Latham  2S6.     i"  Bourke  O.  R.     i«  Baker  G.  250. 

On  the  method  and  effects  of  opium  of  smoking  in  Sind,  see^ 
Burton  S.  R.  ii.  121. 

Sec.  36.  Himting. — ^  Gatlin  i,  25,  76,  199.  '^  lb.  253.  ^  Dall 
M.  L.  107.     ^  Baker  i.  455.      ^  Irving  A.  A.  259.      ^  Emin  Pasha. 

Nearly  all  the  wants  of  300,000  Redmen  were  supplied  by  the 
buffalo.     Gatlin  i.  262. 

Sec.  37.  Birds. — ^  Kane  234.  ^  Pickering  t8.  ^  Bancroft  i. 
376.  *Tylor  E.  H.  172.  ^  lb.  « Kane  58.  'Wood  ii.  337.  «  Hit- 
tell  i.  265.     ® Spencer  D.  S.  iii.  3.     Wood  ii.  428. 

Tame  frigate  bird  taught  to  fly  down  at  bait  and  thus  entice  wild 
birds  into  the  net.     Forbes  33. 

Australians  stretch  a  net  across  a  gap,  in  a  route  taken  h\  ducks, 
hide  near  it,  and  when  ducks  come  along,  flying  above  the  net, 
throw  a  whirling  boomerang  above  them,  and  imitate  the  cry  of  a 
hawk,  whereupon  the  ducks,  in  their  fright,  fly  into  the  net  and 
are  taken.    Wood  ii.  102. 

Sec.  38  Fishing. — i"  The  patent  harpoon,  almost  universally  used 
by  the  American  whalers,  in  lieu  of  the  old-fashioned  article,  is  a 
copy  in  steel  of  bone  and  slate  weapon  which  the  Innuit  [Eskimos] 
have  used  for  centuries."  Dall.  N.  W.  i.  9.  -Kohl.  330.  =*  Kane 
213.  ^  Bancroft  i.  162.  ^  Wood  ii.  594.  "Waitz  vi.  72S.  'Wood 
i.  699.  ".Spencer  D.  S.  iii.  57.  ^Jones  336.  ^^  Tb.  515.  '^  Pow- 
ell 174.  '^  Lubbock  P.  T.  450.  Baegert  Gh.  iii.  "  Romilly  133. 
Guppy  157.  '<  W<Jod  ii.  364.  '^  Pop.  Sci.  Month/y,  Dec.  1886, 
204.  '« Powell  275.  ^T  lb.  206.  1**  Ballon  105.  ^^  Referenc  e  lost. 
^<'  Jones  327.     Pickering  88.     ^*  Kane  254.     ■''^  Low.  237. 


348  APPENDIX. 

Modes  of  fishing.     Barnes  65,  149.     Guppy  151. 

Turtle  killed  by  vertical  arrow.     Herndon  86. 

Sec.  39.  Bees.— ^Tylor  E.  H.  180. 

Sec.  40.    Villages. — ^Catlini.  43,  44.     '^Dawson  38.     ^Waitzv. 

71- 
Sec.  41.  Huts,    etc. — ^  Lubbock   P.   J.    450.       ^  Wood    ii.    20. 

'Fremont  212,  Irving  B.  A.  259.  *  Pickering  30.  ^ Stanley  D. 
C.  i.  385,  489.  Waitz  ii.  80.  « Kohl.  9.  '  Catlin  i.  81,  Clark 
373.  *  Author's  observation.  ^Stanley  D.  C.  i.  432.  ^"Daw- 
kins  E.  M.  267.  "  Lippert  K.  G.  ii.  204.  1-  Bancroft  i.  427. 
'^Latham  285.  Nordenskiold  466.  •*  Spencer  D.  L.  v.  42.  ^^  Mor- 
gan H.  71. 

No  huts  in  portions  of  Malaysia.  Pickering  304,  305,  306. 
Scherzer  iii.  294.  In  Shanar,  district  of  Hindostan,  Leonowens  153. 
Among  Veddahs,  Baker  C.  102,  104.  Among  Port  Jackson  Aus- 
tralians, Klemm  C.  G.  i.  299. 

Sec.  42.  Furniture. — ^  Featherman  393.  -  lb.  560.  *  Cameron 
II,    145,    Baker  C.   254.    ^Lafitau  ii.  61.     MJppert   K.   G.  i.  328. 

The  numerous  uses  of  bamboo.    Thomson  S.  M.  318. 

Sec.  43.  Baskets  and  Mats. — ^  Kane  210. 

In  reference  to  the  baskets  and  mats  of  savages,  see  also  Waitz 
iii-  93  534-  Wood  i.  22.  Klemm  C.  G.  ii.  349.  Tylor  E.  H. 
192.  Bancroft  i.  165  179.  Foster  225,  229.  Schweinfurth  i.  102. 
Burton  L.  R.  ii.  64.     Royer  429.     Kohl.  10. 

Sec.  44.  Z>o^.y.— ^  Galton  H.  F.  246,  247.  nVaitz  iii.  83. 
^Galton  108,  218,  250,  252.  ■*  Waitz  iii.  394.  ^Spencer  D.  S.  iv. 
58,59.  ^Galton252.  "^  lb.  sBomvick  D.  L.  222.  »LippertK.  G. 
i.  491.  ^''  Pickering  108.  Baegert's  silence  about  the  dog  suggests 
that  it  did  not  exist  there.     ^^  Lippert  i.  544. 

Among  the  queerest  pets  are  pythons  large  enough  to  kill  and 
swallow  goats  or  kids.  Such  serpents  are  petted  by  African 
women,  who  rub  them  with  fat  and  pour  fat  down  their  throats. 
The  pythons  learn  to  spare  tame  animals,  and  go  into  the  forest 
for  wild  game.    Emin  Pasha  339. 

Sec.  45.  Pigs,  etc. — ^  Pickering  76.     Lippert  K.  G.  i.  553. 

Sec.  46.  Tillage.—^].  G.  Muller  17,  Morgan  A.  S.  25.  ^  Laf- 
itauii.  77.  ^Peschel  155,  428.  *Letourneau  21.  *Icon.  Ency- 
clopedia i.  64.     •'Waitz  ii.   432.    '  Herndon  88.     »  Waitz   ii.  82,  83. 

Sec.  47.    Implements,  etc.—^  Lubbock  P.  T.  463.    Waitz  ii.  82, 

Sec.  48.  Mlk-yielders.—^  Peschel  425.    ^Lubbock  was  the  first 


APPENDIX  34^ 

to  call  attention  to  the  value  of  the  milk-yielding  animals  in  re- 
ducing the  drain  of  lactation  on  women.  Lippert  K.  G.  i.  243. 
^  Lippert  K.  G.  i.  539.    *  Waitz  ii.  83.    ^  Lippert  K.  G  .  i.  509.    '"lb. 

507- 

Sec.  49.  Boats. — ^  Worsaae  13.  ''Lubbock  P.  T.  450,  O.  C.  507. 
3  Powers  47.  •'Tylor  E.  H.  210.  ^  Bancroft  i.  166.  ^  Brett  267. 
'Burton  L.  R.  411.  *  Cook  i.  267.  'For  full  description  of 
method  of  making  birch  bark  canoes,  see  Kohl.  9,  and  Harper  s 
Jlagazine,  August,  1S8S.  i" Waitz  vi.  65.  "Powers  215.  ^■•'The 
skin  boats  of  the  Eskimos  are  elaborately  described  by  I\,lemm 
C.  G.  ii.  274.  13  Pickering  76.  ^^  Ellis  P.  R.  i.  383.  ^nVaitz 
vi.  644.     '"  Tennent  i.  327.    ^^  Spencer  D.  S.  iv.  2>2)- 

Tahitian  boat  building.    Stevens  69. 

Sec.  50.  Poiiery. —^Ty\or  E.  H.  271.  ^Lubbock  P.  T.  494. 
3Tylor  E.  H.  274.  *  Peschel  168.  ^Spencer  D.  S.  xlvi.  5. 
^Woodi.  55.  ■' Klemm  ii.  66.  ^Foster  246.  Keller  L.  D.  143, 
220.  9  Lippert  K.  G.  i.  325.  Tylor  E.  H.  273.  Ball  T.  E.  N. 
80.    Joly,  307. 

Sec.  51.  Thread,  Cloth,  etc. — ^  Burton  L.  R.  ii.  64.  Schwein- 
furth  i.  10.2,  Waitz,  iii.  93,  534,  Bancroft  i.  165,  179,  Foster 
225,  229,  Wood  I,  22,  Klemm  C.  G.  ii.  349,  Jones  61,  Tylor 
E.  H.  192,  Kane  184,  210,  Emin  Pasha  517,  Gibbon  211, 
Keller  A.  M.  86. 

Sec.  52.  Leatjier. — ^Catlin  i.  45,  Clark  371,  Stevens  550, 
Waitz  iii.  96.  '^  Guinnard  75.  ^  p;jj-kyns  ii.  14.  ^  Nordenskiold 
480.     ^Bnker  N.  T.  181,   Emin  Pasha  236.     ''La  P(5rouse,  ii,  41. 

Sec,  63.  Traffic. — 'Burton  G.  L.  ii.  20.  ^Romilly  24.  *  Ban- 
croft i.  347,  Spencer  P.  S.  256. 

Sec.  54.  y7/t'/«/.y.— Maclean  (M.  B.  87)  and  Foster  (252,  256) 
think  some  of  the  coi)per  ornaments  and  weapons  of  the  North 
American  Indians  were  cast,  but  the  preponderance  of  evidence 
and  authority  is  against  them.  The  articles  supposed  to  have  been 
cast  are  so  small  and  rude  that  the  method  in  which  they  were 
formed  cannot  i>e  determined.  They  are  few  and  of  little  indus- 
trial value.  No  moulds,  no  solid  rings,  no  articles  not  producible 
by  hammering  have  been  found.  See  Annual  Report  Smitlisonian 
Institute  for  1884-5,  7^- 

Sec.  56.  Industrial  Development.—^  Lyell  A.  M.  '^  Tylor  E.  H. 
187.    s/^^.  188.     *Jb. 

Sec.  57.  Natural  Progress. — When  a  Bechuana  first  saw  a  ship 
he  said  "that  certainly  was  never  made  by  man."     Waitz  i,  457. 


350  Appendix, 

Sec.  58.  Promiscuous  Group. — ^  Morgan  A.  S.  364.  "^  Lubbock 
O.  C.  Ch.  iii.  3  Peschel  232.  Morgan  A.  S.  413.  ■»  Lubbock  O. 
C.  Ch.  iii.  ^Morgan  A.  S.  430.  "Lippert  K.  G.  ii.  13.  "^ lb. 
15.  Palgrave  E.  A.  i.  10.  ^  Lippert  K.  G.  ii.  17.  ^  lb.  15,  2 
Kings  xvii.  30.       Lippert  K.  G.  ii.  16. 

The  following  tradition  was  found  in  Australia  by  Fison  and 
Howitt  (25):  "  After  the  creation,  brothers,  sisters  and  others  of 
the  closest  kin,  intermarried  promiscuously  until — the  evil  effects 
of  these  alliances  becoming  manifest — a  council  of  chiefs  was  as- 
sembled to  consider  in  what  way  they  might  be  averted,  the  result 
of  their  deliberations  being  a  petition  to  the  Muramura  (Good 
Spirit),  in  answer  to  which  he  ordered  that  the  tribe  should  be  di- 
vided into  branches  and  distinguished  one  from  another  by  differ- 
ent names,  after  objects  animate  and  inanimate,  such  as  dogs,  mice, 
emu,  rain,  iguana,  and  so  forth;  the  members  of  any  such  branch 
not  to  intermarry  but  for  one  branch  to  mingle  with  another." 

Since  the  Australians,  previous  to  their  familiarity  with  the  white 
men,  had  neither  a  good  spirit  controlling  human  affairs,  nor  chiefs 
possessing  much  authority,  we  must  suspect  that  this  tradition,  in 
the  shape  here  given  to  it,  is  of  modern  origin.  Its  chief  value  lies 
in  the  recognition  of  the  promiscuous  group. 

According  to  the  ancient  rule  of  Hawaii  (Kalakaua  53)  the 
highest  rank  was  that  of  the  reigning  chief;  second,  his  children  by 
his  sister;  third,  his  children  by  his  niece  (presumably  his  sister's 
daughter) ;  fourth,  his  children  by  his  own  daughter;  fifth,  his  children 
by  other  women.  This  rule  seems  to  be  a  remnant  of  the  promis- 
cuous group. 

The  chief  authorities  on  the  promiscuous  group  are  Morgan  A. 
S.  and  S.  C. ;  Lippert  K.  G.  and  G.  F. ;  Lubbock  O.  C.  and 
Spencer  P.  S.  Bachofen,  who  was  the  first  to  call  attention  to  the 
subject,  has  little  to  interest  readers  who  are  familiar  with  later 
writers,  such  as  Lubbock  and  Lippert. 

Sec.  59.  Relationship  Nomenclature. — The  following  table  com- 
piled from  Lubbock,  who  compiled  from  Morgan,  is  designed  to 
show  as  briefly  and  simply  as  possible  the  progressive  character  of 
the  systems  of  nomenclature  in  reference  to  a  few  collateral  re- 
lationships. Some  of  Morgan's  terms,  copied  by  Lubbock,  are 
here  changed.  Thus  for  male  parent,  father  is  substituted;  for 
female  parent,  mother;  for  male  child,  son;  for  great  or  little  father, 
uncle,  and  for  little  mother,  aunt.  The  simple  English  word  is  used 
to  convey  the  meaning  of  a  phrase  which  might  confuse  the  reader. 


Appendix. 


351 


The  abbreviations  in  the  table  are  fa  for  father;  mo  for  mother; 
br  for  brother;  so  for  son;  co  for  cousin;  un  for  uncle;  an  for  aunt; 
np  fornephew;  m  s  for  male  speaking;  and  f  s  for  female  speaking. 


Collateral  Relationship. 


Mother's  brother 

Mother's  brother's  son. 

P'ather's  sister 

Father's  sister's  son. . . . 

Father's  brother 

Father's  brother's  son. . 

Mother's  sister 

Mother's  sister's  son. . . 
Brother's  son,  m.  s.  . . . 

Brother's  son,  f .  s 

Sister's  son,  m.  s   .... 
Sister's  son,  f.  s 


w 

g: 

s 

W 

^ 

p 

0 

0 

u 

c 

Vj 

i 

3" 
P 

rr 

1 
3 
p 

p 

3 

0 

fa 

un 

un 

un 

un 

br 

br 

br 

br 

CO 

mo 

mo 

an 

an 

an 

br 

br 

br 

br 

CO 

fa 

fa 

un 

un 

fa 

br 

br 

br 

br 

br 

mo 

mo 

an 

an 

mo 

br 

br 

br 

br 

br 

so 

so 

so 

np 

so 

so 

so 

np 

np 

np 

so 

np 

np 

np 

np 

so 

so 

so 

np 

so 

in 
p 


un 

CO 

an 

CO 

un 

CO 

an 

CO 

np 
np 
np 
np 


A  table  compiled  by  Lubbock  to  show  the  titles  given  in  five 
successive  stages  of  the  natural  development  of  relationship  nomen- 
clature to  the  father's  sister,  her  son,  her  son's  son,  and  her  son's 
son's  son,  is  here  presented  slightly  modified: — 


Relatives. 

Father's  sister. 

Her  son. 

Her  grandson. 

Her  great-grandson. 

Stage  I 

mother 
aunt 
aunt 
aunt 

aunt 

brother 

brother 

brother 

cousin 

cousin 

son 

son 

nephew 

nephew 

aunt's  grandson 

grandson 
grandson 
grandson 
grandson 
aunt's  great-grandson 

Stage  II 

Stage  III 

Stage  IV 

Stage  V 

In  the  first  stage,  we  have  the  titles  of  the  Hawaiians  and  Mo- 
hawks; in  the  second,  those  of  the  Micwacs;  in  the  third,  those  of 
the  Burmese;  in  the  fourth,  that  of  the  Fijians;  and  in  the  fifth,  that 
of  the  modern  Euraryans.  The  comparison  of  these  five  stages 
proves  the  derivation  of  the  family,  as  constituted  now  in  civilized 
society,  from  the  consanguine  group.  If  the  change  had  been  in 
the  contrary  direction,  we  should  have  had  systems  of  nomen- 
clature like  those  on  the  following  table  from  Lubbock  (O.  C.  199). 


Relatives. 

Father's  sister. 

Her  son. 

Her  grandson. 

Her  great-grandson. 

Stage  I   

aunt 

muthpr 
mother 
muthcr 
mother 

cou.sin 

cousin 

brother 

brother 

brother 

aunt's  grandson 
aunt's  grandson 
aunt's  grandson 
nephew 
son 

aunt's  great-grandson 
aunt's  great-grandson 
aunt's  great-grandson 
aunt's  great-grandson 
gr.indson 

Stage  II 

Stagelll 

Stage  IV 

Stage  V      

The  first  and  last  of  these  stages  are  found  in  modern  tribes,  but 
the  first  instead  of  being  found  among  the  lowest  savages  is  among 
civilized  people,  and  the  last  instead  of  being  among  the  highest  in 


352  APPENDIX. 

culture  is  among  the  lowest.  The  second,  third  and  fourth,  which 
should  have  been  the  connecting  links  in  the  march  of  retrogression, 
are  not  found  anywhere. 

If  the  matrimonial  system  had  changed  from  strict  monogamy 
among  primitive  savagei  to  the  loose  relations  found  in  low  culture 
by  many  modern  observers,  we  should  find  the  title  of  father  given 
to  the  mother's  brother,  with  that  of  cousin  to  his  son.  But  such  a 
combination  is  not  to  be  found  anywhere  in  the  world.  The 
change  must  have  been  mads  then  in  the  other  direction. 
Sec.  6o.  Feminine  Clan. — ^  Morgan  A.  .S.  149. 
The  chief  authority  on  the  feminine  clan  is  Morgan,  who  first 
called  attention  to  it,  discovered  its  wide  prevalence,  and  collected 
a  great  mass  of  evidence  to  prove  its  extensive  prevalence  among 
savages.  His  leading  work  on  the  subject  is  ^«fz>«/6b(:iV^.  Other 
works  worthy  of  attention  are  Lubbock's  Origin  of  Civilization, 
which  gives  a  good  summary  of  Morgan's  ideas,  Starcke's  Primi- 
tive Family,  and  Lippert's  Kidtiirgeschichte  and  Geschichte  der 
Familie. 

Sec.  61.  7c>/^m.—i  Morgan  A.  S.  161.  ''lb.  168. 
On  this  subject  Morgan  is  the  leading  authority. 
Sec.  62.  Australian  Exogamy. — ^  Fison  and  Howitt  36. 
The  highest  authority  is  Fison  and  Howitt's  Kamilaroi. 
The  following  expression  of  opinion  by  Spencer  (P.  S.  50)  de- 
serves consideration,  though  I  am  convinced  it  is  unsound.  The 
"complex  system  of  [Australian]  relationships  and  consequent 
interdicts  on  marriage,  .  .  .  could  not  possibly  have  been  framed 
by  any  agreement  among  them,  as  they  now  exist,  but  .  .  .  are 
comprehensible  as  having  survived  from  a  state  in  which  these 
tribes  were  more  closely  united,  and  subordinate  to  some  common 
rule.  Such  also  is  the  implication  of  circumcision  and  the  knock- 
ing out  of  teeth,  which  we  find  among  them  as  among  other  races 
now  in  the  lowest  stages.  For  when  we  come  hereafter  to  deal 
with  bodily  mutilations  we  shall  see  that  they  all  imply  a  subordi- 
nation, political  or  ecclesiastical  or  both,  such  as  these  races  do 
not  now  exhibit."  To  me,  it  is  clear  that  the  exogamous  sj^stem 
of  Australia  was  an  offshoot  of  its  feminine  clans,  which  could  not 
have  arisen  or  prospered  under  a  strong  political  or  ecclesiastical 
dominion.  I  deny  that  bodily  mutilations  imply  an  extensive  sub- 
ordination. 

Sec.  63.  Feminine  Clan   Survivals. — ^  Reade    208.    ^  Low     265. 
sLippert  K.  G.  ii.  58.    ^  lb,  61.    ^  lb.  58.    « Lubbock  O.  C.  147. 


Appendix.  353 

^Lippert  K.  G.  ii.  57-  ^  Tb.  ^  lb.  s^-  '"Ib.sj.  "75.59-  '' lb.  3S. 
Waitz  vi.  654.  i^Featherinan  411.  "75.469.  '•'//^.  41S.  '«\Vaitz 
V.  107,  1'  Lippert  K.  G.  ii.  48.  ^^  lb.  56.  "Ezek  xxii.  2.  '">  Gen. 
xxiv.  53.    "^'Judges  viii.  19.    ^' Smith  119. 

The  Waswahili  woman  owns  the  home,  divorces  her  husband 
whenever  she  sees  fit,  and  seldom  waits  long  before  she  takes 
another.    Such  changes  are  not  rare.    New.  12,  67. 

In  Balonda  land,  the  wife  owns  the  dwelHng;  the  husband  moves 
to  her  village;  he  can  make  no  contract  without  the  wife's  approval ; 
he  must  supply  his  mother-in-law  with  fire-wood  so  long  as  she 
lives,  and  he  must  work  in  the  fields. 

The  leading  authorities  on  the  subject  of  this  section  are  the 
same  as  those  in  the  feminine  clan,  and  in  addition  to  them  W. 
Robertson  Smith's  Kinship  and  Marriage  in  Early  Arabia,  and 
W'ilken's  i\[atriarchat  bei  den  Arabern. 

Sec.  64.  Masciitine  Clan. — In  reference  to  the  masculine  clan,  see 
Morgan  A.  S.  155-174  and  362-364;  and  Prison  and  Howitt  241,  242, 
274.    The  leading  authorities  are  the  same  as  for  the  feminine  clan. 

Sec.  65.  Capture. —  ^Lubbock  O.  C.  112,  115,  124.  Wood  ii. 
556.    Featherman,  422.     McLennan  A.  H.  18-80. 

Sir  George  Grey,  as  quoted  by  McLennan  (60)  says:  "The  life 
of  a  young  woman  at  all  celebrated  for  beauty  [in  Australia]  is 
generally  one  continued  series  of  captivity  to  different  masters,  of 
ghastly  wounds,  of  wanderings  in  strange  families,  of  rapid  flights, 
of  bad  treatment  from  other  females,  among  whom  she  is  brought 
a  stranger  by  her  captor;  and  rarely  do  you  see  a  form  of  unusual 
grace  and  elegance,  but  it  is  marked  and  scarred  by  the  furrows  of 
old  wounds,  and  many  a  female  thus  wanders  several  hundred  miles 
from  the  home  of  her  infancy,  being  carried  off  successively  to  dis- 
tant and  more  distant  points." 

F.  McLennan  {Studies  in  Ancient  History)  is  the  author  who 
has  given  most  prominence  to  the  system  of  capture  in  early  mat- 
rimony, and  after  him  Lubbock  O.  C.  Lubbock  does  not  go  so  far 
as  McLennan. 

Sec.  66.  Polyandry.—^  Spencer  P.  S.  297-303,  Latham  D.  E. 
ii.  463.  '^Hutchinson  63.  ^Lulibock  O.  C.  loi.  Feathurman  446, 
Waitz  v.  106.  The  best  authority  on  polyandry  in  Thibet  is  A. 
Wilson  Ch.  xxiv. 

Sec.  67.  Potygyny. — 'Lippert  K.  G.  i.  76,  Waitz  i.  120,  135,  ii. 
120,  iii.  108,  Buckle  P.  W.  iii.  39,  Burton  G.  L.  i.  78,  79  ii.  215,  John- 
ston 425,  Seeman  191,  Reade  205,  iionwick  D.  L.  76,  Seeman  i.  136, 

23 


354  APPENDIX. 

Dodge  H.  G.  313,  Livingstone  L.  J.  55,  Gray  185.  ^  Baker  N.T.  263. 

Sec.  68.  Girl's  Position. — MVaitz  vi.  123.  -Spencer  D.  S.  iv. 
47.  ^  Featherman  733.  ^  lb.  440,  Lubbock  O.  C.  Ch.  iii.  Waitz  i. 
108,  Spencer  D.  S.  iv.  27. 

Sec.  69.  Wife's  Position. — ^  Reade  309.  ^  Waitz  ii.  433,  Spencer 
P.  S.  280,  Du  Chaillu  E.  A.  197,  265. 

Mai  thus  (i.  39)  observes  that  "one  of  the  general  characteristics 
of  the  savage  is  to  despise  and  degrade  the  female  sex.  Among 
most  of  the  tribes  in  America,  their  condition  is  so  peculiarly  griev- 
ous that  servitude  is  a  name  too  mild  to  describe  their  wretched 
state.  A  wife  is  no  better  than  a  beast  of  burden.  While  the  man 
passes  his  days  in  idleness  or  amusement,  the  woman  is  condemned 
to  incessant  toil.  Tasks  are  imposed  upon  her  without  mercy,  and 
services  are  received  without  complacence  or  gratitude.  There  are 
some  districts  in  America  where  this  state  of  degradation  has  been 
so  severely  felt  that  mothers  have  destroyed  their  female  infants  to 
deliver  them  at  once  from  a  life  in  which  they  were  bound  to  such 
a  miserable  slavery." 

Sec.  70.  Marriage,  etc. — '  Ellis  P.  R.  i.  271.  2  Waitz  iii.  105. 
^  Spence  D.  S.  iii.  2.  *  Bancroft  i.  437.  ^  Parkman  Preface.  ^  Waitz 
i.  114.  "^  Cook  ii.  220.  8  Lubbock  O.  C.  55,  Spencer  P.  S.  280,  Har- 
ris 247.  9  Burckhardt  B.  W.  64.  i"  Wilken  24.  "  Du  Chaillu  E.  A. 
118.    ^^  Lubbock  O.  C.  55,  Hunter  77.    ^^  Spencer  D.  L.  v.  42. 

Sec.  71.  Brother  Adoption. — The  chief  authority  is  Trumbull,  who 
gives  many  citations. 

Sec.  72.  Couvade.—^  Lubbock  O.  C.  16.  ^  73.  ig.  ^  Klemm  C. 
G.  ii.  83.  *  Ploss  M.  K.  46.  » ib,  41.  e  2  Sam  xii.  16.  '  lb.  22. 
^Lippert  F.  215. 

Sec.  73.  Infancy,  etc. — ^  Waitz,  Klemm  and  nearly  all  authors 
who  have  described  savage  life.  ^  Clark  297.  ^  Waitz  i.  178.  */&. 
v.  iii.  5  Wilkes  v.  102.  ^  Waitz  v.  108.  ''  Lippert  K.  G.  i.  208. 
8  Klemm  C.  G.  ii.  83.    »  Lubbock  O.  C.  34. 

Sec.  74.  Son-in-laiu  Shyness. — ^  Turner  298. 

The  leading  authorities  here  are  Lubbock  O.  C.  Ch.  i.  and 
Tylor. 

Sec.  75.  Womaiihood. — ^Abbott  371.  •^  Waitz  i.  no.  ^  Holub  i. 
302.     *  Powers  85.    ^Orton322.    « Bancroft  i.  411.    1 1b.?>2. 

Sec.  76.  Modesty. — ^  Walker  23,  Wood  i.  411,  Livingstone  E.  Z.  256, 
Thomson  A.  L.  i.  271,  Waitz  i.  359,  Klemm  C.  G.  i.  185,  302,  Guin- 
nard  116,  Lippert  K.  G.  i.  433,  Gibbon  295. 

Sec.  77.  Nudity. — ^  Monteiro  ii.  187,  Klemm  i.  302. 


APPENDIX,  355 

In  some  Polynesian  Islands,  the  women  smear  themselves  with 
the  glutinous  dark  saj)  of  a  tree,  and  allow  it  to  dry  on  the  body 
and  remain  there  for  six  days.  When  washed,  the  skin  is  much 
fairer  than  before.    Wood  ii.  3S6. 

Sec.  78.  Clothing. — '  The  author's  personal  observation.  -'  Spen- 
cer D.  S.  vi.  60.    ^  Klemm  ii.  41. 

Sec.  79.  Orwawd'w/^.— 1  Schweinfurth  i.  282.  ^  Stanley  D.  C.  ii.  319. 
^  Schweinfurth  i.  153.  *  Spencer  D.  S.  v.  57.  ^  Pop.  Sci.  Monthly 
Sept.  1S85. 

Sec.  80.  Hair  Dressing. — ^Wood  i.  505.  -lb.  531.  ^ lb.  689. 
^Livingstone  S.  A.  624.  ^Turner  30S.  ^Schweinfurth  ii.  7,  Clark 
201,  Bonuick  D.  L.  109,  Keate  29,  iMouatt  305. 

Clark  tliinks  tliat  the  eyelashes  may  be  pulled  out  because  paint 
sticks  in  them. 

Sec.  81.  Oil  and  Paint. — Spencer  C.  I.  417,  Wood  i.  362. 

Sec.  82.  Tattoo. — 'Among  the  Redmen  and  Karens.  ^ Among 
the  Maoris.  "  Among  the  Congoese,  Spencer  D.  S.  iv.  23.  +  Bur- 
ton L.  R.  ii.  63.  5  Waitz  v.  66.  « lb.  vi.  41.  t  Ploss  K.  338.  8  Lub- 
bock O.  C.  63.  9 Stanley  D.  C.  ii.  2S5.  'HVood  ii.  225.  "Baker 
N.  T.  273,  Guppy  135. 

Process-ol  tattooing  hi  Samoa,  Barnes  161. 

Sec.  83.  Mutilations. — 'Spencer  D.  S.  iv.  23,  Bock  474,  Latham 
V.  M.  150,  Schweinfurth  i.  294.  '^  Lippert  K.  G.  i.  440.  '' Holub  ii. 
259.  ■'Livingstone  L.J.  372,  373.  ^Forbes  313.  « Latham  \'.  M. 
150.  'Bancroft  i.  334.  ^Ilornaday  393.  ^Waitz  v.  130.  '"Ploss 
K.  312.  "Authorities  on  skull  llattening:  .Spencer  D.  S.  vi.  19. 
Bancroft  i.  180,  Powell  221,  Hall  568,  Featherman  i.  28,  D'Albertis 
ii.  loi,  Berthot  181,  Barnes  33,  Thorburn  146.  '^  Nose  flattening. 
Ploss  K.  Cii.  xiv,  Spencer  D.  S.  iii.  10,  11;  iv.  t8,  Berthet  183. 
Barnes  Ty2>-  '"Si:)encer  I).  S.  iv.  23.  Monteiro  i.  267.  '■•  Lippert  K. 
G.  i.  413.  '■'' I'.Dnwick  I).  L.  27.  "^Harris  29S.  "Cameron  208. 
"'Jones  86.  '"  .Scliueinfurth  i.  297.  -**  Burton  .S.  R.  i.  326.  ^'  Cook 
i.  263.  ^-Livingstone  L.J.  232.  •'^.Spencer  D.  S.  iii.  61.  "Waitz 
vii.  770,  780,  26,  Jb.  781. 

I'or  mutilations  generally,  see  Spencer  357-367. 

Those  wlio  desire  to  study  tlK-  authorities  in  reference  to  mutila- 
tions, s(jme  of  wiiich  are  not  named  iiere,  may  examine  the  follow- 
ing: Ploss  K.  Ch.  xiv,  Spencer  C.  I.  362,  Waitz  i.  1  j  1,  ii.  251,  516, 
V.  18,  164,  560,  561,  vi.  770,  780,  789,  Wallace  A.  358,  I'.onuick 
D.  L.    121,  499,   P.iirckliardl  N.  331,  331,  lb.   P.  434,  Baker  N.  T. 


3S^  APPENDIX. 

124,  Orting  326,  322,  Burton  G.  L.  i.  83,  Emin  Pasha  95.      Anthro- 
pological Society  Memoirs  i.  327,  328,  Cameron  240,  Cook  i.  327. 

Sec.  85.  Capacity.—^  Tylor  A.  60.  ^  Lippert  K.  G.  i.  92.  ^  Spen- 
cer P.  S.  41.  ^Ib.  43.  ^  lb.  ^  lb.  ^  lb.  51.  « Authority  lost. 
9  Spencer  P.  T.  34.  i«  lb.  2,1,.  "  li.  i-=  Lubbock  P.  T.  513.  ^'  Spen- 
cer D.  S.  iv.  32. 

The  following  paragraph  from  Waitz  (i.  479)  seems  worthy  of  at- 
tention : — 

"  Man  has  no  natural  tendency  to  progress.  The  modern  idealis- 
tic doctrine  of  the  development  of  his  mind,  under  the  influence  of 
its  independent  and  innate  impulses,  is  a  fiction  which  flatters  his 
vanity  though  it  defies  leading  facts  in  the  history  of  his  culture. 
His  thought  unquestionably  created  and  maintained  civilization, 
but  this  thought  is  not  spontaneous,  in  either  its  beginning,  its 
continuance,  nor  is  it  the  function  of  a  single  individual,  but  is  the 
result  of  the  competing,  conflicting  and  reacting  struggles  of  hu- 
man society,  influenced  by  its  surroundings  and  nurtured  and  ma- 
tured by  a  controlling  historical  destiny'." 

In  this  passage  Waitz  begins  with  a  denial  of  man's  innate  capacity 
to  develop  culture,  and  ends  with  the  admission  that  progress  is  the 
necessary  product  of"  the  struggles  of  human  society,  influenced  by 
its  surroundings."  Man  is  so  constituted  mentally  that  he  must 
organize  society.  The  question  of  what  he  might  have  been  as  a 
solitary  animal  independent  of  a  material  environment  has  no  re- 
lation to  historical  experience  or  practical  philosophy. 

Sec.  86.  Preponderant  Present. — ^  Spencer  P.  S.  41.  -lb.  ^  lb. 
*  Lippert  K.  G.  i.  7.     ^  /b.     «  lb.     '  /b.  39. 

Sec.  87.  Early  Blaturity. — ^Lippert  K.  G.  i.  228.  "^  lb.  61. 
'Spencer  P.  S.  48.     *  lb.     ^  lb.  Waitz  ii.  235. 

Sec.  88.  Jollity. — '  Waitz  ii.  103,  135,  vi.  106,  .Skertclily  191. 
2  Lubbock  O.  C.  517.     '  Melville  T.  169. 

Sec.  89.  Politeness. — ^  Pop.  Sci.  Monthly  Dec.  18S6,  p.  209. 
'^Baegert  Ch.  vii.  He  says  the  Lower  Californians  have  no  saluta- 
tions. ^Spencer  P.  S.  346.  *  Monteiro  i.  241.  ^  Peschel  478, 
Waitz  iii.  136,  Crantz  i.  271. 

Sec.  90.  Salutations. — '  Spencer  P.  S.  386.  -  Featherman  i.  439. 
^Spencer  D.  S.  iii.  12.  •*  lb.  iii.  3.  *  .Spencer  P.  S.  385.  ^  lb.  383. 
'/5.  384.  ^  lb.  D.  S.  iii.  17.  » Lubbock  O.  C.  39.  i"  Spencer  D. 
S.  iv.  28.  "Spencer  P.  S.  387.  ^' lb.  "Woodii.  267.  ** Bancroft 
i.  777.  ^3  Spencer  P.  S.  389.  ^^  Waitz  iii.  59.  i' Spencer  D.  S.  iv. 
17,   Peschel   237.      ''^  Klemm  C.  G.  ii  304.     ^^  Rein    426.    '^"Jagor 


APPENDIX.  357 

i6i.     "'  Wood  ii.    230,  Spencer  D.  S.  Hi.  7.     -'  Wood  i.  523,  526. 
22  A\'aitz  iii.  46S.   -^  Bancroft  i.  68.    ^^  Spencer  D.  S.  iv.  21.     ^6  Hesse- 
Warteg  260.     ^'  Wood  i.  562. 
The  best  authority  on  savage  salutations  is  Spencer  P.  S.  392- 

398. 
Sec.  91.  EducatioJi. — Dodge  H.  G.  324. 
Sec.    92.    Morality. — ^  Peschel  280.     ^  Spencer  E.    I.  646.     ^  lb. 

*  lb.  D.  S.  iv.  23.    »Waitz  vi.  303.    ^Lippert  K.  G.  i.93.    '  Low  248. 

*  Waitz  iii.  389 

Buckle's  assertion,  that  there  has  been  no  advance  in  moral  ideas 
in  thousands  of  years,  deserves  mention  here.  He  says  (H.  C.  i. 
129)  "there  is,  unquestionably,  nothing  to  be  found  in  the  world, 
which  has  undergone  so  little  change  as  those  great  dogmas  of 
whicli  moral  sy.'^tems  are  composed.  To  do  good  to  others;  to 
sacrifice,  for  their  benefit,  your  own  wishes;  to  love  your  neighbor 
as  yourself;  to  forgive  your  enemies;  to  restrain  your  passions;  to 
honor  your  parents;  to  respect  those  who  are  set  over  you;  these, 
and  a  few  others,  are  the  sole  essentials  of  morals.  But  they  have 
been  known  for  thousands  of  years,  and  not  one  jot  or  tittle  has 
been  added  to  them  by  all  the  sermons,  homilies  and  text-books 
which  moralists  and  theologians  have  been  able  to  produce." 

Buckle's  "sole  essentials  of  morals  "  which  "have  been  known 
for  thousands  of  j^ears"  were,  for  many  centuries,  understood  to 
justify  slavery,  hereditary  nobility,  hereditary  priesthood,  despotic 
government,  press  censorship,  religious  persecution,  prohibition  of 
educating  slaves  and  warfare  for  conquest.  To  assert  that  the  gen- 
eral condemnation  and  ov^erthrow  or  diminution  of  these  great 
evils,  in  recent  times,  has  not  been  in  the  aggregate,  a  great  addi- 
tion to  morality  is  equivalent  to  saying  that  the  peo'ple  have  no 
right  to  political  or  intellectual  freedom.  The  science  of  ethics  is 
like  every  other  attribute  of  humanity,  in  one  respect  at  least;  it 
grows.     It  has  grown   in   every  pliase  of  culture. 

Darwin  (D.  M.  ch.  iv.)  expresses  the  opinion  that  morality 
grows,  and  cites  Lecky  H.  M. 

Sec.  93.  yUiiusemcfits. — '  Monteiro  ii.  274.  -  Klemm  ii.  113. 
■^ /b.  log.  ■• /(i.,  //a  MoL-renhout  ii.  i5r.  ^  Wood  ii.  490.  "GillS.  S. 
65.  'Dodge  H.  G.  333.  8i.;iemm  ii.  no.  » Wood  ii.  378.  Ellis 
P.  R.  i.  221. 

.Sec.  94.  Poetry,  etc. — 'Waitz  vi.  92.  -Spencer  1).  .S.  vi.  10. 
For  samples  of  oratory  of  the  'I'ongans,  see  W^aitz  vi.  loi ;  for  ora- 
tory of  l\i(ltii<-n,  ib.  iii.    141;   lor  Lenape  legends,  Klenuu  ii.    183; 


358  APPENDIX, 

for  Maori  legends,  Bonwick  D.  L.  190;  for  Hawaiian  legends, 
Kalakaua  69-507;  for  poetry  of  Lenape,  Klemm  ii.  182;  of  Malag- 
asies, Spencer  D.  S.  iii.  62;  of  Khonds,  ih.  v.  56;  of  Karens,  ib. 
57;  of  Tahiti,  Waitz  vi.  120,  and  of  New  Zealand,  Waitz  vi.  140. 
3  Scherzer  V.  N.  iii.  128,     *  Waitz  vi.  75. 

Sec.  95.  Music— '^  TmnQV  125.  ^  g.  Forster  i.  291.  ^Wood 
i.  296.  iMartineau  Cli.  iv.  ^  Spencer  D.  S.  iii.  62.  «Wood  i. 
230.  ^  G.  Forster  i.  429.  « Wood  i.  414.  » Tb.  295.  ^^  Spencer 
D.  S.  V.  56.    "  Ellis  P.  R.  i.  198.    ^'^  Waitz  vi.  171.    ^^  Guppy  141. 

For  notes  of  savage  airs,  see  Wood  L.  i.  293.  Klemm  ii.  216. 
Schweinfurth  ii.  75.     Dodge  O.  W.  I.  355- 

Sec.  96.  Medicine  and  Surgoy.—^  For  Patagonian  cure  of 
croup,  see  Guinnard  147.  'Waitz  iii.  82.  ^Vilkes  iv.  464. 
*  Bancroft  i.  245.  ^  Guppy  178.  He  quotes  Aitken's  Medicine, 
6th  Edition  i.  859,  to  show  that  syphilis  existed  in  prehistoric 
France.  For  its  existence  among  the  Mound-Builders,  see  Maclean 
M.  B.  146;  for  Australia  before  arrival  of  whites,  see  Klemm  i.  785. 
6 Livingstone  L.  J.  56.  ''Forbes  69.  »  Parkyns  ii.  224.  » Spencer 
D.  L.  iv.  34.  "/(^.  35.  "Waitz  iii.  226.  ^^  Wood  i.  560. 
"Featherman  i.  398.  i*  Guppy  166.  ^^  Waitz  iii.  399.  Ellis  P.  R. 
iii.  43.  iscartailhac  83.  ^"^  lb.  87.  i^Jarves.  i^  Waitz  ii.  464. 
^oCookii.  124. 

For  a  very  remarkable  remedy  for  tetanus,  see  Waitz  (vi.  398) , 
who  cites  D'Urville  as  his  authority  and  Klemm  (iv.  394),  who 
obtains  his  information  from  Mariner. 

The  Monbuttoos  smear  the  juice  of  the  caoutchouc  plant  over  the 
skin  where  affected  by  a  dry  cutaneous  disease.     Emin  Pasha  443. 

Sec.  97.  Vocabulary  —  ^  Max  Muller  S.  L.  i.  383.  ^  Ib.  i.  353. 
"A  complex  train  of  thought  can  no  more  be  carried  on  without 
the  aid  of  words,  whether  spoken  or  silent,  than  a  long  calculation 
without  the  use  of  figures  or  algebra."  Darwin  D.  M.  86.  *  Ib. 
i.  368.  Romanes  (430)  thinks  that  speech  "began  with  sentence- 
words  in  association  with  gesture-signs."  Adam  Smith  thought 
first  words  were  verbs;  Dugald  Stewart  argued  that  they  were 
nouns.  Max  Muller  i.  41.  Sayce  (I.  S.  L.  ii.  77)  says,  "Language 
is  thus  of  interjectional  origin,  helped  by  the  imitative  instinct,  and 
language,  in  the  course  of  its  development,  created  and  moulded 
thought."  Elsewhere  {ib.  loi)  he  says,  "  the  further  back  we  can 
trace  a  language,  the  poorer  it  seems  to  be."  <  Max  Muller,  S.  L. 
i.  86,  117.  Featherman  300,  639.  ^  Max  Muller,  S.  L.  i.  266.  ^  Ib. 
S.  L.  i.  265.    -^  Ib.  ii.  285.    sLippert  K.  G.  i.  141-    ^Lubbock  P. 


APPENDIX.  359 

T.  574.  ^0  lb.  "Bonwick  D.  L.  160.  i- Lubbock  P.  T.  574. 
13  Lippert  K.  G.  i.  141.  »*  Bonwick  D.  L.  160.  ^^  Lippert  K.  G. 
i.  139,  140.  '6  75.  '' Peschel  116,  117.  is  Max  Muller  S.  L.  ii.  355. 
'^ lb.  35.  -"Lubbock  O.  C.  440.  '■^  lb.  439.  '■'■lb.  438.  ^sspen- 
cer  D.  S.  \\.  56.  ''^  Fornander  i.  157.  25  Tylor  E.  H.  165.  Pow- 
ell 255,  Clark  27. 

Sec.  98.  Sounds  and  Signs. — ^  Darwin  J.  R.  206,  Sayce  L  S.  L. 
i.  284.  ^Spencer  D.  S.  iv.  36.  ^ Tylor  P.  C.  153.  Featherman 
i.  181.  ■'Max  Muller  S.  L.  ii.  39.  ^Spencer  iii.  46.  "Lubbock 
O.  C.  518.  Bonwick  D.  L.  152.  '  Peschel  114.  « Lippert  K.  G. 
142.  'Max  Muller  S.  L.  ii.  177.  i"  Lubbock  P.  T.  450.  ^^Max 
Muller  S.  L.  ii.  202.  i' Lippert  K.  G.  i.  160.  '» Spencer  D.  S. 
iii.  45.  ^*  lb.  44.  i»  Tylor  P.  C.  148.  i«  Lippert  K.  G.  i.  160. 
1'  Tylor  E.  H.  144,  188.  i*  Featherman  i.  654.  ^^  Ellis  W.  A.  L. 
76.  '^Ib.  "Melville  T.  256.  ^^ Spencer  D.  S.  iii.  44.  "/<^.  45. 
"Lyell,  A.  ii.  275.  ^^  Spencer  D.  S.  169.  -'e^yior  p.  c.  149. 
2'  I  .i  ppert  K.  G.  i.  160.    ^s  -pyior  E.  H.  45. 

The  Annamitic  sentence  consisting  of  "  Ba  ba  ba  ba,"  is  from 
Max  Muller  S.  L.  ii.  39. 

Sec.  99.  Grammar. — ^  Max  Muller  S.  L.  i.  2S8.  -  Bonwick  D. 
L.  147,  Sayce  (I.  S.  L.  i.  375)  says,  "  If  the  excellence  of  a  lan- 
guage is  to  be  decided  by  the  number  and  variety  of  its  grammati- 
cal forms,  the  palm  will  be  borne  off  rather  by  the  Eskimos  or  the 
Cherokees  than  by  the  dialects  of  Greece  and  Rome."  J.  L.  Wil- 
son (240)  tells  us  that  no  language  in  the  world  is  capable  of 
greater  precision  in  expression  than  that  of  Southern  Guinea.  Ac- 
cording to  Burton  (G.  L.  i.  iii)  there  are  from  1,200  to  1,500  deriva- 
tives from  one  verb  in  the  Mpongwe  tongue.  Waitz  (i.  314)  ob- 
serves "that  the  grammatical  construction  of  the  tongues  of  the 
rudest  tribes  has  a  perfectly  defined  and  strongly  impressed  regu- 
larity, as  now  universally  admitted."  The  complexity  in  the  inflex- 
ions of  the  verbs  is  often  accoinixanied  by  remarkable  poverty  in 
the  nouns.  For  tiiis  reason  there  is  great  difficulty  among  some 
Aastralians,  as  Wallace  tells  us  (A.  51),  in  expressing  many  ideas 
common  among  civilized  people.  In  such  a  tongue  there  is  no 
simple  nominative.  The  noun  instead  of  being  general  is  special- 
ized by  such  limitations  as  that  it  is  staying  in,  going  to  or  coming 
from  a  place. 

Ma.x  Muller  (O.  R.  68)  says:  "Languages  which  have  cases  to  ex- 
press nearness  to  an  object,  movement  alongside  of  an  object, 
approach  towards  an  object,  but  which  have  no  purely  objective 


3  6o  APPENDIX. 

case,  no  accusative,  may  be  called  rich,  no  doubt,  but  their  riches 
is  truly  poverty. "  This  remark  applies  also  "  to  their  dictionary. 
It  may  contain  names  for  every  kind  of  animal ;  again  for  the  same 
animal  when  it  is  young  or  old,  male  or  female;  it  may  have  differ- 
ent words  for  the  foot  of  a  man,  a  horse,  a  lion,  a  hare;  but  it  prob- 
ably is  without  a  name  for  animal  in  general,  or  even  for  such  con- 
cepts as  member  or  body.  There  is  here,  as  elsewhere,  loss  and 
gain  on  both  sides." 

Sec.  ioo.  Rapid  Change. — ^  Spencer  D.  S.,  iv.  36.  -  Max  Muller, 
S.  L.  i.  62.  3  lb.  1  lb.  36.  s  lb.  43.  "■  Peschel  104.  '  Feather- 
man  i.  594.    8  Latham  Y.  M.  262. 

Sec.  ioi.  Intellectual  Development. — Dr.  Ferguson  (Max  Muller 
S.  L.  i.  357)  says,  "The  speculative  mind,  in  comparing  the  first 
and  last  steps  of  the  progress  of  language,  feels  the  same  sort  of 
amazement  with  a  traveler  who,  after  rising  insensibly  on  the  slope 
of  a  hill,  comes  to  look  from  a  precipice  of  an  almost  unfathoma- 
ble depth  to  the  summit  of  which  he  scarcely  believes  himself  to 
have  ascended  without  supernatural  aid."  Romanes  (300)  ob- 
serves that  the  anthropology  proves  that  men  have  come  from  sev- 
eral or  many  distinct  sources.  That  many  peculiarities  of  speech 
had  a  local  origin  may  be  granted.  Romanes  (373)  quotes  the  fol- 
lowing sentence  from  Sayce  :  ' '  When  we  remember  the  inarticulate 
clicks  which  still  form  part  of  the  Bushmen's  language,  it  would 
seem  as  if  no  line  of  division  could  be  drawn  between  man  and 
beast,  even  when  language  is  made  the  test."  That  statement  seems 
to  imply  that  speech  is  as  old  as  humanity  and  must  have  had  a 
common  origin  with  it.  The  grammar  of  a  child  just  beginning  to 
speak  is  like  that  of  the  Chinese. 

The  same  author  (258)  says,  "That  the  existing  languages  of 
the  earth  did  originate  in  more  than  one  centre  is  now  the  almost 
unanimous  belief  of  competent  authorities."  In  Sajxe  (I.  .S.  L.  i. 
73)  we  read  that,  "  The  languages  of  the  world  cannot  be  carried 
back  to  a  single  source.  There  are  at  least  as  many  original  lan- 
guages as  existing  families  of  speech."  Notwithstanding  the  high 
authority  of  Sayce  and  Romanes,  I  must  remark  not  only  that  I 
have  seen  no  convincing  evidence  to  prove  that  point,  but  that  I 
think  no  such  evidence  can  be  produced  until  it  is  shown  that  the 
different  races  of  men  are  not  descended  from  the  same  original 
stock.  The  black  man  came  from  the  beast;  the  yellow  man  from 
the  black;  the  white  from  the  yellow;  and  the  languages  of  the 
yellow  and  white  men  from  the  primitive  speech  of  the  primitive 
black  men.    This  is  the  natural  course  of  growth. 


APPENDIX.  361 

Max  Muller  (N.  R.  321)  says:  "I  hold  as  strongly  as  ever  that 
everj'  inflectional  language  must  have  passed  through  an  agglutina- 
tive stage,  and  that  this  agglutination  is  always  preceded  by  the 
isolating  stage." 

Sayce  (I.  S.  L.  i.  75)  remarks  that,  "  The  continued  existence  of 
isolating  like  the  Chinese  or  of  agglutinative  tongues  like  the  Mag- 
yar and  the  Turkish  shows  that  the  development  is  not  a  necessary 
one."  Romanes  (253)  quotes  that  sentence  and  approves  it;  and 
I  must  venture  to  express  dissent.  The  growth  of  the  typical 
man  to  a  height  of  four  feet  or  more  is  a  physical  necessity  of  his 
nature,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  some  dwarfs  stop  growing 
when  they  reach  a  height  of  two  feet.  The  rule  is  determined  by 
the  general,  not  by  the  exceptional  facts.  Progress  is  a  necessary 
feature  of  human  life  in  language  as  well  as  in  other  departments. 

Sec.  102.    Headless  Groups. — ^  Spencer   P.  S.    205.    -  lb.     ^  lb. 

Sec.  103.  Freedom. — ^  Ward  ii.  233.  Hellwald  i.  334.  ''■  Lub- 
bock O.  C.  446. 

Sec.  104.     Unstable  Headship. — ^  Spencer  P.  S.  542. 

Sec.  105.  Stable  Headship. — This  subject  is  well  discussed  in 
Spencer  P.  L. 

Sec.  107.    Assemblies,  etc. — ^  Spencer  P.  S.  464. 

Sec  108.  Savage  Confederacies. — ^  Morgan  A.  S.  70,  129,  130, 
136,  143,  H.  37.  ''■lb.  132,  140.  ^ Hesse-Warteg  223.  HVaitz  v. 
187. 

Sec.  109.     Retaliation. — '  Spencer  P.  S.  466.     ''■  lb.  533. 

Sec.  no.  Retaliation  Restricted. — ^  Num.  ii.  30-31.  Mvoran  ii. 
1 7.  Among  the  Apaches,  according  to  Cremony  (293),  the  avenger 
challenges  the  murderer  to  mortal  combat  in  open  and  fair  fight. 
Such  a  method  of  settlement  is  withouta  parallel  elsewhere,  and 
perhaps  the  statement  is  an  incorrect  inference  from  some  excep- 
tional case.  ^Spencer  D.  .S.  iv.  22.  *Jarves  59.  Wood  ii.  329. 
Spencer  D.  .S.  iii.  12.     Waitz  iii.   127.     ^Icon.  Encyclopedia!.  138. 

*  Featherman  455,    581,  603.     Peschel   239.     'Spencer    P.    S.  523. 

Sec.  112.  Succession. — '.Spencer  D.  S.  iv.  7.  " Featherman  i. 
104.     *  Moerenhout  ii.  13,  *  Featherman  i.  185. 

Sec.  113.  Ordeals. — '.Silencer  D.  S.  iii.  15.  Krapf  East  Af.  174. 
'■lb.  173.  ^Jarves  39.  *  Spencer  D.  S.  iii.  14.  *  Brooke  331. 
*Wood  ii.  5ri. 

.Skc.  114.     Property- — 'Spencer  D.    .S.   v.   36.     '^ Waitz  v.    187. 

*  Bourlte  S.  D.  135.     <  Wait/,  vi.  224.     •'  lb.  225. 

Skc.  115.  Slavery. — 'Waltz  i.  211.  -  Fh.  ii.  469.  ^  Burton"  L, 
R.  ii.  189.     Richardson  ii.  205.     *  .Spencer  D.  S.  iv.  23. 


362  APPENDIX. 

Sec.  116.  Nobility. — ^  Spencer  P.  S.  461.  ^Waitz  vi.  200.  '^  lb. 
V.  172-175.     *Du  Chaillu  A.  L.  420. 

Sec.  117.  Political  Development. 

Sec.  118.    War. — ^  Wood  ii.  207.     ^  Jones  7. 

Sec.  119.  Battle. — ^Wood  i.  356.  -  Waitz  vi.  744-746.  '  lb.  vi. 
147.  ■'Skertchly  455.  *  Stanley  D.  C.  i.  400.  «Waitz  iii.  150. 
'7^.  iii.  151.     8 Dodge  H.  G.  275,  lb.  O.  W.  I.  145.  Kane  80. 

Sec.  120.    Trophies. — Spencer  P.  S. 

Sec.  121.  Fortifications. — For  descriptions  of  the  fortifications 
of  the  Mound-Builders,  see  Maclean  M.  B. 

Sec.  122.  Initiation  — ^  Catlin  i.  21.  •^  This  weight  is  the  author's 
guess,  made  many  years  after  seeing  such  a  skull.  The  weights 
vary  much,  and  the  heaviest  were  doubtless  preferred.  ^  Dodge 
H.  G.  257,  260.  Catlin  i.  233.  Pop.  Sci.  Monthly,  June,  1886. 
Capt.  A.  W.  Corliss,  U.  S.  A. ,  who  had  been  stationed  for  years  in 
the  territories  of  the  Dakotas,  told  the  author  that  their  mode  of 
initiation  bore  more  resemblance  to  that  of  the  Cheyennes,  as  de- 
scribed by  Dodge,  than  to  that  of  the  Mandans.  For  Blackfoot 
initiation,  see  Pop.  Sci.  Monthly,  Aug.  1889.  For  Dakotas,  Catlin  i. 
178,  Long  i.  276,  Clark  71,  361.  For  Crows,  z6.  135.  For  Hldatsas, 
ib.\<)\.  For  Arickarees /<J.  196.  For  Poncas, /(5.  363.  For  other 
tribes,  /3.  73.  For  Chippeways,  Kohl  228.  *Waitziii.  149.  ^  lb.  328. 
^  Floss  427.  ^  Robinson  173.  *Woodii.  516.  "  Klemm  C.  G.  ii.  113. 
^"Latham  V.  M.  240.  "Bancroft  i.  735.  i-' Spencer  D.  S.  vi.  57. 
"^^  lb.  v.  16.  ^*  Parkyns  ii.  219,  Baker  N.  T.  125.  '^Waitz  i.  390. 
Livingston  S.  A.  164,  Wood  i.  325.  ^*Waitz  iii.  389,  Spencer  D. 
S.vi.  56.  17  Spencer  D.  S.  vi.  58.  i^Wood  ii.  616.  '^  Burckhardt 
N.  397.  '^  Romilly  32.  ^'  Lafitau  i.  297-300.  ^^  lb.  303.  ^^  Spencer 
D.  S.  vi.  13.20. 

Kohl  (132)  says  the  Chippeways  have  a  severe  initiation  for 
priests. 

Sec.  123.  spirits. — 'Lippert  K.  G.  i.  125,  Spencer  P.  S.  146. 
^Waitz  i.  363,  Lippert  S.  C.  *  Spencer  D.  .S.  iv.  18.  *  Feather- 
man  i.  51.  ^Lubbock  P.  T.  437.  ^ lb.  \.  217.  'Wood  i.  348. 
^Ib.\.  2^T.  9  Lubbock  O.  C.  234.  'o  Spencer  P,  S.  162.  1*  Feath- 
erman  82.     ^'  Wilson  395,  Tylor  E.  H.  7. 

The  chief  argument  to  prove  that  the  lowest  savages  have  no  re- 
ligion, has  been  made  by  Lubbock.  He  says  (O.  C.  208),  "  If  the 
mere  sensation  of  fear  and  the  recognition  that  there  are  probably 
other  beings  more  powerful  than  oneself,  are  alone  sufficient  to 
constitute  a  religion,  then  we  must,  I  think,  admit  that  religion  is 


APPENDIX.  363 

general  to  the  human  race.""  But  when  a  child  dreads  the  darkness, 
and  shrinks  from  a  lightless  rotim,  we  must  never  regard  that  as  an 
evidence  of  religion.*  Moreover,  if  this  definition  be  adopted,  we 
can  no  longer  regard  religion  as  peculiar  to  man." 

Although  probably  not  so  intended,  every  sentence  in  that  para- 
graph misrepresents  the  ciuastion  under  consideration.  The  feel- 
ing to  be  accounted  for  is  not  fear  but  fear  of  spirits;  and  since  that 
sensation  is  not  attributed  to  brutes,  the  mention  of  them  is  inap- 
plicable to  this  argument.  ,  Neither  is  the  "  dread  of  darkness"  rel- 
evant; there  are  good  reasons  for  disliking  to  go  where  we  cannot 
see,  such  as  the  fear  of  running  against  something  and  hurting  our- 
selves. The  admission,  in  the  first  sentence,  would  have  been  ap- 
propriate, to  Lubbock's  position,  if  it  had  been  thus  expressed: 
"  If  the  mere  belief  in  spiritual  beings,  powerful  enough  to  greatly 
influence  human  life,  and  fear  of  them,  are  sufficient  to  constitute 
religion,  then  w-i  muit  admit  that  religion  exists  in  all  savage 
tribes." 

While  denying  the  existence  of  religion  in  many  tribes,  Lubbock 
says:  "The  savage  is,  however,  almost  universally,  a  believer  in 
witchcraft"  (P.  T.  581),  that  is  in  a  supernatural  power.  Tylor, 
.S.  C.  ii.  417-424,  has  replied  very  forcibly  to  Lubbock.  Both  ar- 
guments deserve  to  be  read  by  those  who  wish  to  examine  this 
question  thoroughly. 

Tylor  (P.  C.  15)  says:  '"'Most  of  what  we  call  superstition  is 
included  within  survival,  and  in  this  way,  lies  open  to  the  attack  of 
its  deadliest  enemy,  a  reasonable  explanation." 

Tylor  introduced  the  word  "animism"  to  mean  "  the  doctrine  of 
spiritual  beings,"  a  belief  which,  as  he  says  (P.  C.  3S5)  "charac- 
terizes tribes  very  low  in  the  scale  of  humanity  and  thence  ascends, 
deeply  modified  in  its  transmission,  but  from  first  to  last,  preserving 
an  unbroken  continuity  into  the  midst  of  high  modern  culture." 
Many  other  authors  Iiave  accepted  animism  as  a  valuable  addition 
to  the  Englisli  language,  but  Lippert  (.S.  C.)  objects  that  while  it 
expresses  tiae  philosophical  conception  of  a  future  life,  it  fails  to 
convey  the  idea  of  a  worshi]5  of  the  disembodied  spirits.  He  uses 
soul-worship  [scelcnkiiH)  as  preferable.  Among  savages  the  be- 
lief in  spirits  is  always  accompanied  by  worship. 
I  Sec.  124.  Imaginary  World. — '  Lip.  K.  G.  i.  30.  ^  VVaitz  ii.  190. 
^11).  ii.  152,  Allen  ii.  121.  ^Spencer  P.  .S.  70,  71.  ''Waltz  iii. 
195.  " Maine  35,  Spencer  P.  .S.  79,  83.  '  Waitz  vi.  343.  "^.Spencer 
E.  C.  583,  P.  S.  56,  95-    '  Il>-  70,  7^.      '"  Du  ChaiUu  E.  A.  3S3,  3S4. 


364  APPENDIX. 

"Spencer  P.  S.  99,  100.  ^''  lb.  100.  ^^  Low  260,  263.  "Spencer  P. 
S.  93.  ^^Ib.  87,  Lubbock  O.  C,  235,  ^'^ lb.  i' Dodge  H.  G.  283. 
Clark  325.  '8  Spencer  P.  S.  87.  ^9  Lubbock  O.  C.  235.  20  Tyi^r  p. 
C.  ii.  20.    "^^  lb.  112. 

^-Scott's  Madge  Wildfire  says,  "Whiles  I  think  my  puir  bairn's 
dead — ye  ken  very  weel  it's  buried — but  that  signifees  naething. 
I  have  had  it  on  my  knee  a  hundred  times,  and  a  hundred  till  that, 
since  it  was  buried, — and  how  could  that  be  were  it  dead,  ye  ken 
— its  merely  impossible."  In  this  case,  the  woman,  as  Tylor  (E. 
H.  Ch.  vi.)  says,  "confounds  imagination  with  reality."  She  does 
not  distinguish  between  subjective  and  objective  perceptions.  She 
is  like  a  class  of  persons  who  see  visions  in  the  fancy,  and  fancy 
they  see  them  in  the  material  world. 

I  was  acquainted  with  Alice  and  Phoebe  Carey,  sisters,  poets, 
and  ladies  of  most  estimable  character.  Both  have  been  dead  for 
many  years.  Both  had  visions  in  which  they  saw,  heard  and  felt 
spirits.  One  of  them  Alice  if  I  recollect  aright,  told  me  that  these 
spirits  appeared  to  her  senses  as  real  as  did  any  of  her  acquaint- 
ances. To  her,  they  were,  in  no  sense,  illusions.  Of  their  real 
existence,  independently  of  her  fancy,  she  had  no  doubt.  In  the 
opinion  of  the  learned  men  of  our  time,  generally,  such  figures  are 
the  products  of  an  abnormal  condition  of  the  brain;  they  are  the 
creations  of  an  unregulated  iinagination.  As  Pascal  says,  the  imag- 
ination is  "  one  of  the  deceitful  powers;"  it  has  a  great  influence  on 
human  life.  Lecky  (H.  M.  i.  59)  says  that  the  whole  history  of 
the  intellectual  progress  of  the  world  is  "  one  long  struggle  of  the 
intellect  of  man  to  emancipate  itself  from  the  deceptions  of  Nature.' ' 
This  is  perhaps  too  broadly  stated;  but  man  is  certainly  misled 
very  seriously,  and  in  many  different  directions,  by  fancies  which 
seem  to  be  inseparable  from  the  ignorance  that  accompanies  not 
only  the  low  but  also  the  high  stages  of  culture. 

I  believe  in  clairvoyance  because  I  have  had  direct,  and  to  me 
conclusive,  proof  of  its  truth.  About  1872,  Charles  Foster,  a  noted 
spirit  medium,  made  his  first  professional  visit  to  San  Francisco. 
Very  soon  after  his  arrival,  I  was  one  of  four  visitors  to  whom  he 
gave  a  sitting.  I  had  never  seen  him,  nor  he  me.  He  had  no  op- 
portunity, so  far  as  I  knew,  of  learning  anything  about  ms,  or 
my  relatives.  He  could  not  have  expected  me,  for  I  had  no 
thought  of  seeing  him  until  five  minutes  before  I  started.  On 
reaching  his  hotel  our  party  stopped  in  an  ante-room  where  we 
each  wrote  the  names  of  about  a  dozen  deceased  friends  on  bits  of 


APPENDIX.  365 

paper  five  inches  square.  These  were  folded  over  with  the 
names  inside,  until  they  were  about  three-quarters  of  an  inch  wide 
and  five  inches  long.  All  tliese  papers  were  given  to  me;  and  af- 
ter they  were  put  into  my  hat,  I  could  not,  without  opening  them, 
have  told  which  I  had  written,  nor,  if  I  had  had  mine  separate, 
could  I  have  told  what  name  was  on  anyone  slip  of  paper.  We 
went  into  Foster's  room  and  were  not  introduced.  We  sat  down 
with  him  at  a  round  table  about  four  feet  in  diameter.  I  turned 
out  my  papers  on  the  table.  He  did  not  open  one  of  them,  nor 
did  he  hold  one  up  in  such  a  manner  as  to  suggest  that  he  tried  to 
see  what  was  in  it.  In  the  course  of  the  sitting,  he  picked  up  one 
of  the  papers,  which  he  held  in  his  left  hand  while,  with  his  right, 
he  wTote  the  name  John  Shertzer;  and  then  he  gave  both  papers  to 
me.  I  opened  the  closed  paper  and  found  that  it  was  one  on 
which  I  had  written  the  name  of  a  deceased  uncle.  I  asked  where 
he  died.  Foster  requested  me  to  write  half  a  dozen  places  and  put 
the  right  one  among  them.  I  made  such  a  list,  correct  as  I  sup- 
posed. Foster  scratched  out  all  the  names  and  said  John  Shertzer 
did  not  die  at  any  place  there  named.  I  insisted  that  he  did, 
whereupon  Foster  said  he  thought  not,  but  if  so,  it  was  at  Lebanon, 
Pennsylvania.  It  did  not  occur  to  me  until  afterwards  that  the 
death  occurred  at  the  village  of  Annville,  in  Lebanon  County,  Penn- 
sylvania, five  miles  from  the  town  of  Lebanon.  I  knew  this  fact  at 
the  time,  but  my  recollections  were  confused,  and  for  the  moment 
I  iiad  forgotten.  The  death  of  John  Shertzer  occurred  in  1S54  and 
I  am  satisfied  that  Foster  had  never  heard  of  him. 

Foster  picked  up  a  piece  of  paper  and  said,  "  Here's  the  name 
of  a  man  that  was  shot,"  and  looking  at  me  he  added,  "This  is 
yours."  I  asserted  that  I  did  not  put  the  name  of  any  man  that 
had  been  shot  in  my  list.  Foster,  without  opening  the  paper,  wrote 
out  the  name  William  Shertzer,  and  then  gave  me  both  papers.  I 
explained,  I  had  sjioken  too  hastily.  Wm.  Shertzer  disappeared 
mysteriously  in  southern  Ohio  about  1838,  and  his  relatives  never 
knew  how  or  where  he  died.     He  may  have  been  shot. 

General  John  McComb,  now  warden  of  the  State  Prison  at  San 
Quentin,  was  one  of  my  companions  in  the  visit  to  Foster.  The  lat- 
ter, in  tiie  course  of  the  sitting,  said  to  McComb,  "  Thomas  is 
here."  McComb  said,  "  I  did  not  write  the  name  of  any  Thomas." 
Foster  replied  that  he  tliought  lie  did.  After  some  conversation 
with  others,  Foster  again  spoke  to  McComl)  and  said,  "The  Gen- 
eral is  here."     McComl)  remarked  liiat  lie  did  not  put  in  the  name 


366  APPENDIX. 

of  any  General.  Foster  said:  "Certainly  you  did.  Here's  his 
name."  He  picked  out  a  paper  from  the  pile  on  the  table,  and 
without  opening  it,  wrote  the  nama  General  Cazneau,  a  deceased 
militia  general  and  insurance  agent  of  San  Francisco.  I  remarked 
that  Cazneau's  first  name  was  Thomas.  Foster  caught  both  Mc- 
Comb  and  myself  in  two  errors  about  matters  of  which  we  knew 
everything  and  he  nothing.  Besides,  these  were  not  the  only  in- 
stances of  the  kind  that  occurred  in  the  course  of  the  sitting.  He 
made  no  mistake,  and  he  replied  to  many  questions  for  each  of 
the  party.  No  chance,  no  preparation,  could  have  enabled  him  to 
succeed.     He  was  aidad  either  by  clairvoyance  or  by  spirits. 

Foster  claimed  that  he  obtained  his  information  from  spirits.  I 
believe  that  he  had  an  abnormal  or  clairvoyant  perception,  and 
that  the  disembodied  souls  which  he  saw  or  heard  existed  only  in 
his  imagination.  I  have  several  friends  in  whoss  learning  and  wis- 
dom I  have  great  confidence,  who  had  direct  evidence  similar  to 
my  own,  and  who,  like  mg,  believe  in  clairvoyance  and  not  in 
spirit  communication. 

I  sent  a  proof  of  this  note  to  General  McComb,  with  requests  for 
corrections,  and  for  leave  to  use  his  name.    In  response  he  says  : — 

"  I  have  read  the  proof  slips  of  an  interview  with  Charles  Foster, 
and  my  recollection  of  the  facts  agrees  with  your  statement.  As  I 
am  not  a  believer  in  spiritism,  perhaps  I  should  add  that  I  was  very 
much  puzzled  by  the  disclosures  made  by  Mr.  Foster,  who  was  an 
entire  stranger  to  me.  You  are  privileged  to  use  my  name  in  veri- 
fication of  the  facts  stated  by  you. ' ' 

Laycock  (i.  176)  saj-s  "that  certain  facts  are  familiar  to  the  stu- 
dents of  insanity,  hysterical  delirium,  somnambulism,  mesmeric 
clairvoyance,  and  so  forth."  This  language  implies  that  Laycock 
regards  mesmeric  clairvoyance  as  an  abnormal,  physical  condition, 
not  less  genuine  than  insanity,  hysterical  delirium,  and  somnambu- 
lism; and  to  a  certain  degree,  akin  to  them. 

It  is  the  existence  of  clairvoyance  that  has  been  the  main  sup- 
port of  the  religion  of  spiritism  in  the  United  States,  and  that 
may  have  had  a  great  influence  in  suggesting  and  maintaining  the 
spiritual  ideas  in  savage  religious. 

Sec.  125.  Devout  Fear. — ^^TylorP.  C.  ii.  209.  -Spencer  E.  I. 
584.  ^  lb.  P.  S.  117.  "No  people,"  says  Ballon  (14),  "could  be 
more  superstitious  than  the  colored  residents  of  Nassau.  They 
shut  up  and  double  lock  the  doors  and  windows  of  their  cabins,  at 
night,  to  keep  out  the  spirits. "     ^  Lippert  K.  G.  i.  118.     ^Ib.\X2. 


APPENDIX.  367 

«  7/5.  118.  ^i^.  113.  «/i5.  iiS.  9  7/5.  >«  Spencer  P.  S.  117.  "  Waitz 
iii.  41,  '^'^  lb.  vi.  310.  '^Spencer  D.  S.  v.  39.  "  Featherman,  204, 
255,  288,  520,  549,  646.  '^Monteiro  i.  247.  '* Parry  551.  "Lub- 
bock O.  C.  220.  i^TJ.  P.  T.  578.  '9  7/5.  O.  C.  221.  20/^.  221. 
-'Spencer  E.  J.  584.  ^'^ lb.  D.  S.  v,  39.  -="7/5.  P.  S.  117.  Tylor 
P.  C.  ii.  117.  ■-'nVaitz  vi.  330.  "Tylor  P.  C.  ii.  178.  -« 7/5. 
Spencer  D.  S.  v.  34.  ""^  lb.  iii.  14.  ""^  lb.  v.  15.  '^  lb.  E.  J.  584. 
3' Tylor  P.  C.  i.  193.  *^  75.  »=«  Spencer  D.  S.  v.  40.  ^nVood  i. 
466 

Sec.  126.  Next  Z,//^.^' Spencer  P.  S.  loi.  -7/5.  110-112. 
^Ib.  106.  'lb.  D.  S.  iii.  6.  ^ lb.  P.  S.  no.  "Lubbock  O.  C.  283. 
Tylor  P.   C.  i.  429,  440.     '  Spencer  P.  S.  96. 

Sec.  127.  Burial,  etc. — '  Clark  90.     -Cameron  94. 

Sec.  128.  Alourning. — 'Wood  i.  232.  '■'Spencer  D.  S.  vi.  52. 
^Deut.  xiv.  I.  ^Bancroft  i.  288.  ^ Dodge  W.  I.  172.  ^VVaitzvi. 
401. 

Writing  of  the  tropical  Polynesians  Gerland  (Waitz  vi.  339)  says: 
"  Faith  in  spiritual  powers  was  evolved  in  these  islands  in  the  sim- 
plest accordance  with  the  promptings  of  nature,  and  the  resulting 
heathenism  was  more  complete  than  any  to  be  found  elsewhere. 
No  other  race  has  had  in  its  history  so  few  external  shocks,  to 
stimulate  or  check  its  spontaneous  growth.  Therefore  it  is  that, 
mythologically  considered,  the  Polynesians  not  only  show  us  the 
original  type  of  humanity,  but  also  the  course  of  its  growth.  They 
show  us  what  religious  ideas,  under  circumstances  n  jt  obstructive 
to  his  cultural  development,  man  can  and  must  adopt  in  the  higher 
phases  ofsavagism." 

Sec.  129.  Soul  Worship. — 'Waitz  vi.  330.  '^  Lippert  K.  (j.  ii. 
293.  *  Spencer  P.  S.  373.  *  75.  143.  *  Jones  428.  "Lubbock  O. 
C.  382.  Cumming  H.  F.  25  r.  'Waitz  vi.  370.  ^  Spancer  P.  S. 
388.     9  Krapf.  52. 

Sec.  130.    Totemism. — 'Waitz  vi.  336,  373.    -  Lul)l)ock  ().  C.  266-  ^ 
270.      3  Spencer   P.  S.   167.     ^  lb.    166.      ^  lb.     ''lb.  167.     -^  lb.    172. 
*'/h.     •'/b.ifiS.    '"7/5.180-182.     "//5.  1S2.     '-7/5.     7/^179.     '-'7/5. 

A-S  a  result  of  tiie  idea  that  niany  divinities  take  up  their  res- 
idence in  beasts,  the  .Solomon  Islanders  think  that  a  sliark  sh<nild 
have  the  man  whom  lie  has  tried  to  catch.  If  the  man  escapes 
nto  a  canoe,  they  throw  iii:n  overboard.     Guppy  71. 

List  of  animals   sacred  in  various  African  tribes.     Waitz  ii.  178, 

X79.  352. 
Sec.  131.  Fetishism. —  Lubbock  (J.  C.    328.     '^  Waitz    vi.    317. 


368  APPENDIX. 

'  Bancroft  i.  6i.  *  In  shamanism  "  every  object  and  force  of  nature 
is  supposed  to  liavethe  'zi,'  or  spirit,  who  could  be  cjntrolled  by- 
magical  exorcisms  of  the  Shaman,  or  sorcerer  priest. "  Sayce  A. 
E.  E.  146.     *Tylor  P.  C.  ii.  153. 

For  Redman's  fetish,  or  msdicine,  see  Clark,  248.     Catlin  i.  36. 

Much  has  been  written  to  prove  that  shamanism  is  one  of  the 
main  phases  of  religion  in  rude  culture,  and  that  it  is  limited  to 
Asia.  The  main  idea  that  the  priest  can  control  disembodied 
spirits  and  compel  them  to  help  or  hurt  the  living  is  found  among 
the  fetish  worshipers,  and  the  line  between  fetishism  and  shaman- 
ism is  vague  and  unimportant.  Lippert  (G.  P.  i.  252)  discusses 
shamanism  fully,  and  I  think  is  the  best  authority  in  regard  to  it. 

Sec.  132.  Ancesfor   Jf'ors/u'p. — ^Spencer   P.    S.    147.    -  7/5.    152. 


^Deut.  xxvi.  14.     *  Spencer  P.  S.  152. 

s  75.  142.     6  7/5.      '  Holub. 

302. 

Sec.  133.   Offerings. — '  Spencer  P.  S. 

139.368-377-     'lb.     Tylor 

P.  C.  ii.  32-34.     ^  Spencer  D.  S.  iv.   15. 

^  lb.  X.  S.    139.     ^Turner 

20.     6  Spencer  P.  S.  373.     "^  lb.  108. 

In  Unyoro  and  Uganda  "if  the  dead  appear  to  their  relations  in 
a  dream,  an  offering  of  flour  and  the  blood  of  a  sheep  is  brought 
to  tlie  clay  vessels  and  the  spirits  are  besought  to  discontinue  their 
visits."     Emin  Pasha,  230. 

Sec.  135.  Hmnm  Sacrifices. — ^  Allen  328.  ^Stanley  C.  ii.  181. 
^  Baker  i.  335.  *  Featherman  i.  444.  ^Spencer  P.  S.  106.  '^Ib 
'  Wood  i.  222.  ^Spencer  p.  S.  104.  ^  Baker  i  335.  ^^ Cameron  ii. 
no.  ^'Wood  ii.  753.  '■'Spencer  D.  S.  v.  39.  '^Waitz  ii.  197. 
i-*  Featherman  i.  432.  '^.Schoolcraft  iv.  50.  '"  Lubbock  O.  C.  366. 
'7  Featherman  i.  20.  ^  Jb. /[-j-j.  "'7/5.695.  '*>  Spencer  D.  S  iii.  38. 
■■''Seeman  236.  '^^Waitz  iii.  207.  '^^  P'eatherman  i.  236.  Tylor  P. 
C.  ii.  250.  Wilson  219.  "Leonowens  147.  -^Lippert  K.  G.  ii. 
292.     '^^  lb.  270. 

The  left  eye  of  the  victim,  in  the  human  sacrifice,  was  offered  to 
the  King  of  Hawaii.     Kalakaua  46. 

Sec.  136.   Gods. — '  Lippert  G.  P.  i.  245     ^ Spencer  E.  I.  628-646. 

Sec.  137.  Idolatry. — 'Spencer  P.  S.  154.  '■lb.  '^ lb.  155.  ^  Jb. 
156.  ^Ih.  ^Ib.  •>  lb.  ^Ib.  158.  ^Ib.  ^^Ib.  ^^  lb.  Lander  i. 
125.  '^Spencer  P.  .S.  156.  '^Waitzvi.  370.  ** /<5.  342,  369.  '^ Tylor 
P.  C.  ii.  157,  161.  'sspencer  D.  S.  vi.  47.  '^Lubbock  O.  C.  Ch. 
iii. 

Sec.  138.  Divine  Intercourse. — '  Waitz  vi.  679.  '^  lb.  2,Ao-  ^  Baker 
N.  T.  129. 


APPENDIX.  369 

Sec.  139.  Worship. — '  Moerenhout  ii.  S3.  ^  Bourke  S.  D.  255. 
3  Spencer  D.  S.  vi.  52.  *\Vaitz  iii.  180.  *  Jones  428.  *Woodi. 
686.  'Lubbock  O.  C.  315.  nVaitz  iii.  180.  ^ lb.  181,  209. 
^®Waitz  iii.  300.  ''Jones  23.  '- Spencer  D.  S.  v.  34.  '^Gumming 
H.  H.ii.  164.     '^  Spencer  P.  S.  370.     'HVaitz  vi.  3S5. 

Sec.  140.  Priests. — 'Lubbock  (O.  C.  370)  says  that  "without 
temples  and  sacrifices  there  cannot  be  priests,"  and  that  among 
the  lower  savages  "  there  are  no  priests,  properly  so  called."  This 
is  in  harmony  with  his  opinion  previously  cited  that  many  of  the 
lower  savages  have  no  religion,  and  that  faith  in,  and  fear  of, 
spiritual  beings  are  not  sufficient  to  make  up  a  religious  belief. 
^Waitz  ii.  196.  ^Spencer  P.  S.  474.  ■•  Litde  157.  ^ Spencer  E.  L 
602,  603.  ^Ib.  606.  'Waitz  iii.  385.  ^Kolil  132.  'Waitzii.  199. 
"Spencer  D.  S.  iii.  14.  "//^.  E.  L  606.  ''^  Waitz  iii.  373.  ^^  /^j.  jj. 
402      '*  lb.  vi.  3S7.     Spencer  P.  S.  197,  402. 

Sec.  141.  Sensitives,  etc. — ^Tylor  P.  C.  i.  120.  Wood  ii.  290. 
^Tylor  P.  C.  i.  120.  ^  Wood  i.  188.  *  Waitz  vi.  372.  ^Spencer  D. 
S.  v.  35.  ^Ib.  P.  S.  131.  'Tylor  P.  C.  ii.  377,  378.  Clark  155.  J. 
G.  MuUer,  182.  Robinson  271.  ^Waitz  iii.  544.  Seeman  330. 
Tschudi  189.  ^Spencer  P.  S.  125.  Catlin  i.  222.  "Spencer  P.  S. 
132.     "  Kohl  106.    '-  Waitz  vi.  393. 

Spirit  rappers  among  Chippeways.  Kohl.  278.  Among  Africans. 
Wilson  216. 

Sec.  142.  Sorcerers. — '  Waitz  vi.  679.  Kalakaua  59.  -  Waitz  vi. 
396.  Emin  Pasha  206.  Kalakaua  42.  Tylor  E.  H.  129.  *  Spencer. 
D.  T.  iv.  33.  Waitz  iii.  118.  *Wood  i.  196.  *  Peschel  264. 
^Spencer  D.  S.  iv.  34. 

Sorcerers  change  themselves  into  vampires  or  man-eating  beasts. 
Emin  Pasha  93,  261.     Tylor  P.  C.  ii.  175. 

Sec.  143.  Sacerdotal  Functions. — '  Waitz  vi.  3S3.  ^  Wood  ii.  133. 
^Spencer  E.  L  630.  ■*Jarves4o.  *  Dodge  IL  G.  275.  ®  Wilson  76. 
Bartcjn  G.  L.  i.  loi. 

Sec.  144.  Areoi. — '  Waitz  vi.  363.     'Wh.  2,66. 

Sec.  145.  Revetme,  etc. — '  Spencer  P.  S.  374.  "^  i  Sam.  xxi.  6. 
3  Ex.  XX.  25,  26.  *Jud.  vi.  19,  21.  ^2  Sam.  vii.  4-6.  ®  Most  of  this 
paragraph  is  a  condensation  from  Spencer  E.  I.  626. 

Sec.  146.  Taboo. — '  Lippert  K.  G.  i.  119.  Wood  i.  406.  Guppy 
32.  Park  174.  ^  Low  260.  ^  Waitz  vi.  361.  *  Powell  113.  ^  Thom- 
son N.  Z.  i.  loi.  "Robinson  298.  'Spencer  D.  S.  v.  19,  36. 
"Waitz  vi.  362.  * E>.  ^'^ lb.  323.  "Jarves  57.  Wood  ii.  189, 
Scherzer  iii.  1 14.     Thomson  N.  Z.  105. 


37(5  APPENDIX. 

Sec.  147.  Oinejts,  etc. — ^Bagehot  129.  Emin  Pasha  96.  Dodge 
H.  G.  275.  lb.  W.  I.  135.  ^Chalmers  and  Gill  308.  ^Waitzvi. 
805.    *  Waitz  vi.  393.    ^Woodii.  565.    ^Waitzii.  417.    '  Wood  i.  465. 

Sec.  148.  Temples,  ^'/r.—^  Maclean  M.  B.  100.  "^  lb.  221.  ^  lb. 
54.  *i3.  46.  5/^.56.  6/^.57.  '/<^.  58.  « Spencer  P.  S.  137.  *  lb. 
Emin  Pasha 93.  ^"Spencer  P.  S.  137.  "^^ lb.  ^'^ lb.  373.  '^'^  lb.  137. 
1*73.  ^^  lb.  ^^Ib.  ^"^  lb.  i«  Waitz  vi.  373.  ^^  lb.  \\.  377.  ^^  lb. 
■'^Ib.  ^-Ib.v.  75.  -^3.  226.  -^^  Spencer  P.  S.  138.  ^^ /b.  ^^  lb. 
'^'^  lb.     ^^  lb.     ^^Fergusson  27. 

Sec.  149.  Religious  Developinejtt. — ^Max  Muller  C.  G.  W.  i. 
Preface. 

In  many  passages,  Max  Muller  (S.  R.  51,  104,  106,  108,  O.  R.  64, 
N.  R.  219)  accepts  the  idea  that  a  supernatural  revelation  of  the 
main  truths  of  religion  was  given  to  savages.  But  he  has  not  made 
a  study  of  savage  culture,  and  has  never  been  a  recognized  au- 
thority in  reference  to  it.  In  writing  of  it,  he  has  made  some  gross 
mistakes.  He  has  asserted  (N.  R.  219)  that  all  religions  teach 
morality.  Of  fetishism  he  has  said  that  it  represents  "the  very 
lowest  stage  which  religion  can  reach."  Again  he  has  written  of 
the  fetish  as  if  it  were  regarded  as  something  supernatural  and  en- 
tirely different  from  the  idol  which  is  merely  the  home  of  a  spirit  or 
divinity.  As  the  reader  has  seen  in  the  text,  the  fetish  worshiper 
and  the  idol  worshiper  are  alike  in  worshiping  a  spirit  supposed 
to  make  its  home  in  the  material  object. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  Max  Muller  asserts  that  while  the 
supernatural  has  been  at  work  in  a  foreign  domain  of  which  he 
knows  little,  in  his  own  specialty,  philology,  all  the  changes  have 
occurred  under  the  influence  of  natural  law.  He  quotes  (N,  R. 
237)  with  compassion  Plato's  opinion  "that  language  could  not 
possibly  have  been  invented  by  man."  After  asserting  that  lan- 
guage is  a  natural  product  of  the  human  mind,  and  that  true  re- 
ligion was  revealed  to  savages  and  then  allowed  to  degenerate,  he 
tells  us  {lb.  313)  that  "a  truly  scientific  study  of  religion  is  impossi- 
ble unless  we  know  the  language  which  forms  the  soil  from  which 
religion  and  mythology  spring."  Is  savage  religion  the  super- 
natural fruit  ot  the  natural  tree,  language  ? 

The  theory  of  a  divine  revelation  of  fundamental  religious  truth 
to  savages  has  been  accepted  by  many  other  authors,  including 
Fichte,  Schelling,  Hegel,  F.  Schlegel,  De  Maistre,  Gladstone,  and 
Whateley,  but  no  one  has  undertaken  to  give  evidences  and  argu- 


APPENDIX.  371 

ments  to  sustain  his  opinion.     The  reader  can  consult  Tylor  P.  C, 
i.  36;  FHnt  414,  428,  463. 

Sec.  152.  Grades  of  Culture. — ^Lubbock  P.  T.  435,  436,  550. 
-  Pickering  304.     ^  Fremont  212.     *Waitz  i.  390. 

Lubbock  (P.  T.  553)  gives  a  table  of  the  possession  of  bows, 
slings,  throw-sticks,  boomerangs,  bolas,  fishhooks,  and  nets  by 
various  tribes,  but  I  see  little  significance  in  it  and  therefore  do  not 
copy  it  here.  Lippert's  supposition  (K.  G.  i.  306)  that  the  lack  of 
the  bow  among  the  Australians,  Tasmanians,  and  most  Polyne- 
sians is  proof  that  their  ancestors  must  have  migrated  from  their 
continental  home,  before  that  weapon  was  invented,  does  not 
harmonize  well  with  tlie  fact  that  the  Andamanese  have  bows  with- 
out huts,  tillage  or  polished  stone,  and  that  the  Tahitians,  Hawaiians 
and  Kaffirs  with  advanced  savage  culture,  and  familiar  with  the 
bow,  made  no  use  of  it  save  as  a  plaything,  preferring  the  spear  in 
war  and  the  chase. 

Sec.  153.  Some  Characteristics. — ^Waitzi.  42.  -  Lubbock  P.  T. 
281.  ^ lb.  359.  ■'The  potato  supports  twice  as  many  people  to  the 
acre  as  does  wheat.  Buckle  H.  C.  i.  notes  46  and  167.  ^  A  date 
tree  yields  360  lbs.  of  fruit  annually,  equivalent  to  7,200  lbs.  for  an 
acre.  Bartlett  46.  One  square  league  sustains  70,000  date  palm 
trees,  Humboldt  Ch.  viii.  Since  there  are  4,438  acres  in  a  square 
league,  this  would  allow  only  15  trees  to  an  acre,  leaving  a  distance 
of  more  than  50  feet  from  tree  to  tree,  whereas  35  or  40  is  sufficient 
for  old  trees  in  full  bearing.  At  35  feet  apart  there  would  be  35 
trees  on  an  acre,  and  at  360  lbs.  to  a  tree,  a  crop  of  12,600  lbs.  A 
sago  palm  tree  will  yield  300  lbs.  01  sago;  but  this  is  not  an  annual 
crop.  Wallace  IVL  A.  382,  Waitz  v.  12S.  One  cocoa  palm  tree 
supports  several  families.  Scherzer  i.  365.  It  yields  a  ton  of  nuts 
annually.  Tennent  ii.  457.  ^Authority  lost.  '  Brigham  (353)  says 
that  1,607  square  feet  of  rich  soil  in  Guatemala  yield  4,000  lbs.  of 
plantain.  This  is  equivalent  to  84,000  lbs.  for  an  acre.  Tylor  (M. 
303)  says  that  "according  to  the  lowest  estimate"  one  acre  of 
bananas  will  support  as  many  people  as  twenty  acres  of  wheat. 
The  yield  of  plantain  to  the  acre  in  Africa  is  estimated  by  Du  Chaillu 
(A.  L.  119)  at  27,000  lbs.  Buckle  (H.  C.  i.  notes  46  and  167)  citing 
Humboldt,  says  tiiat  in  tlie  yield  of  nutriment  from  an  acre,  the 
banana  is  to  wheat  as  133  to  one.  Tropical  fruits  contain  12  per 
cent,  of  carbon;  blubber  contains  65  to  80  per  cent.  Buckle  H.  C. 
i.  note  46.    *  Waitz  vi.  64. 


3^2  APPENDIX. 

For  sources  from  which  we  have  derived  our  cultivated  plants 
see  De  CandoUe  and  Hehn. 

Sec.  156.  BejicfitsofWar. — ^  Spencer  P.  1.582.  The  same  author 
(75.  438)  says:  "Neither  the  consolidation  and  reconsolidation  of 
small  groups  into  large  ones,  nor  the  organization  of  such  com- 
pound and  doubly  compound  groups,  nor  the  concomitant  develop- 
ment of  those  aids  to  a  higher  life  which  civilization  has  brought, 
would  have  been  possible  without  intertribal  and  international  con- 
flicts. Social  co-operation  is  initiated  by  joint  defense  and  offense, 
and  from  the  co-operation  thus  initiated,  all  kinds  of  co-operation 
have  arisen.  Inconceivable  as  have  been  the  horrors  caused  by 
this  universal  antagonism,  which,  beginning  with  the  chronic  hos- 
tilities of  small  hordes,  tens  of  thousands  of  years  ago,  has  ended 
in  the  occasional  vast  battles  of  immense  nations,  we  must  never- 
theless admit  that,  without  it,  the  world  would  still  have  been  in- 
habited only  by  men  of  feeble  types,  sheltering  in  caves  and  living 
on  wild  food." 

Victor  Cousin  praises  war  as  the  ' '  terrible  but  necessary  instru- 
ment of  civilization."  He  says  (190)  "  the  hypothesis  of  a  condition 
of  perpetual  peace  among  men  would  be  the  hypothesis  of  absolute 
stagnation.  *  *  *  War  is  nothing  save  a  bloody  exchange  of 
ideas;  a  battle  is  nothing  but  a  struggle  between  truth  and  error; 
*  *  *  a  victory  is  nothing  but  the  triumph  of  the  truth  of  to-day 
over  the  truth  of  yesterday.  *  *  *  The  frequent  •assertions 
that  war  is  a  game  of  chance  and  the  fortune  of  battle  very  uncer- 
tain, is  true  if  viewed  in  a  narrow  spirit  but  most  false  when  con- 
sidered upon  general  principles.  Humanity  never  lost  a  battle. 
Every  great  victory  has  been  achieved  in  the  interest  of  civili- 
zation. *  *  *  The  conqueror  is  the  better,  and  more  moral 
than  the  conquered;  and  for  that  reason  is  the  victor.  Ifthis  were  not 
true  then  morality  and  civilization  would  be  in  conflict;  but  that  is 
not  possible,  since  both  are  merely  different  phases  of  the  same 
idea." 

This  praise  of  war  is  quoted  here  for  the  the  suggestiveness,  not 
for  the  correctness,  of  its  ideas.  In  many  cases  war  does  not  de- 
serve to  be  dignified  "Cvith  the  title  of  "an  exchange  of  ideas,"  and 
a  great  battle  does  not  turn  in  favor  of  civilization  any  more  than  a 
meeting  between  a  highwayman  and  a  mechanic  carrying  the 
savings  of  years  of  labor.  The  assertions  that  the  cause  of  progress 
"  never  lost  a  battle, "  or  that  "every  great  victory  has  been  achieved 
in  the  interest  of  civilization, ' '  are  extremely  questionable  considered 


APPENDIX.  373 

separatel)'^  and  are  entirely  unnecessar}'  in  support  of  the  main 
proposition  that  war  has  rendered  great  service  to  culture. 

Sec.  157.  Benejits  of  Slavery,  etc. — ^"Abject  submission  of  the 
weak  to  the  strong,  however  unscrupulously  enforced,  has  in  times 
and  places  been  necessary."  Spencer  P.  I.  436.  "  Subjection  to 
despots  has  been  largely  instrumental  in  advancing  civilization." 
7^.481. 

"Conservation  of  ethnological  families,  material  and  moral  <..e- 
velopment,  primitive  discipline,  apprenticeship  of  liberty,  indis- 
pensable novitiate  and  inevitable  passage  from  barbarism  to  civil- 
ized life, — these  are  the  titles  of  slavery  to  the  gratitude  of  man- 
kind."— Wallon  Introduction. 

Sec.  15S.  Benejifs  of  Religion. — ^Spencer  E.  1.622,651.  Lip- 
pert  (K.  G.  i.  28.)  says:  "  Religion  gave  to  the  laws  of  morality  those 
penal  sanctions  without  which  men  could  not  have  been  educated 
up  to  the  lower  and  middle  rules  of  ethics;  and  these  are  indis- 
pensable to  the  development  of  the  higher  principles  and  to  the 
creation  of  the  moral  instinct."  Carpenter  (501)  remarks:  "  The  re- 
ligion once  true  may  become  a  lie;  the  polity  once  fraught  with 
blessing  may  become  a  curse." 

Among  the  ancient  authors  who  wrote  of  religion  as  a  valuable 
police  institution,  are  Polybius,  Strabo,  Livy,  Dionysius  and  Pau- 
sanius.  See  citations  from  them  in  Milman,  H.  L.  C,  ch.  i.  This 
opinion  has  been  shared  by  chiefs,  kings  and  statesmen  in  every  age 
of  the  world.  For  remarks  about  some  of  the  evil  influences  of 
savage  religions  see  Waitz  i.  459, 469  and  Burckhardt  N.  405. 

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Anthropological  Society  of  London,  Memoirs  of 
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1770. 
Bachofen,  Das  Mutterrecht,  .Stuttgart,  1861. 
Baegert,  J.,  [Lower]  California,  translated.     In  Smithsonian  Annual 

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374  APPENDIX. 

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Burckhardt,  J.  L.,  Travels  in  Nubia,  London,  1815. 

"  "      Bedouins  and  Wahabys,  London,  1830. 

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"  "      Syria  and  the  Holy  Land,  London,  1822. 

Burton,  R.  T.,  The  Lake  Regions  of  Central  Africa,  2  vols.,  Lon- 
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"  "    Two  Trips  to  Gorilla  Land,  2  vols.,  London,  1S76. 

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APPENDIX.  375 

Carr,  L.  and  N.  S.  Shaler,  Prehistoric  Remains  of  Kentucky,  In 
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Cartailhac,  E.,  Les  Ages  Prehistoriques  de  I'Espagne  et  du  Portu- 
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Caspari,  O.,  Die  Urgeschichte der  Menschheit,  2  vols.,  Leipzig,  1877. 

Catlin,  G.,  The  North  American  Indians,  2  vols.,  London,  1857. 

Chalmers,  J.  and  W.  W.  Gill,  Work  and  Adventure  in  New  Guinea, 
London,  1S85. 

Chapman,  J.,  Travels  in  South  Africa,  2  vols.,  London,  1868. 

Clarke,  W.  P.,  The  Indian  Sign  Language,  Philadelphia,  1885. 

Commissioner  of  U.  S.  Indian  Affairs  Report  for  1872. 

Cook,  F.  C,  The  Origins  of  Religion  and  Language,  London,  1884. 

Cook,  J.,  Voyages,  2  vols.,  London,  1777. 

Cooper,  H.  S.,  Coral  Lands,  2  vols.,  London,  1880. 

Cope,  E.  D.,  Origin  of  the  Fittest,  New  York,  1886. 

Cousin,  v.,  Introduction  a  I'Histoire  de  la  Philosophie,  Pain,  1S67, 

Crantz,  D.,  The  History  of  Greenland,  translated,  2  vols.,  London, 

1777. 
Cremony,  J.  C,  Life  among  the  Apaches,  San  Francisco,  1868. 
Croll,  J.,  Climate  and  Time,  New  York,  1875. 
Gumming,  C.  F.  G.,  From  the  Hebrides  to  the  Himalayas,  2  vols.^ 
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"  '*         At  Home  in  Fiji,  New  York,  1882. 

"  "A  Lady's  Cruise,  2  vols.,  London,  1882. 

D'Albertis,  L.  M.,  New  Guinea,  2  vols.,  Boston,  1881. 
Dall,  W.  H.,  Alaska,  Boston,  1870. 

"        "        On  Masks,  Labrets,  etc.,  Washington,  1885. 
"         "        Tribes  of  the  Extreme  Northwest,  Washington,  1877. 
Darwin,  C,  Descent  of  Man,  2  vols.,  New  York,  1871. 

"        "    Journal  of  Researches,  New  York,  1871. 
Dawkins,  W.  B.,  Early  Man  in  Britain,  London,  1880. 

"         "    Cave  Hunting,  London,  1874. 
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1877. 
"         "      Our  Wild  Indians,  Hartford,  1886. 
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3/6  APPENDIX. 

Ellis,  A.  B.,  West  African  Islands,  London,  1885. 

Emin  Pasha  in  Central  Africa,  translated,  New  York,  1889. 

Evans,  J.,  The  Ancient  Stone  Implements  of  Great  Britain,  New 
York,  1S72. 

Featherman,  A.,  Social  History  of  the  Races  of  Mankind,  vol.  i, 
Nigritians,  London,  I881. 

Fison,  L.  and  A.  W.  Howett,  Kamilaroi  and  Kurnai,  Melbourne, 
1880. 

Fletcher,  J.  C.  and  D.  P.  Kidder,  Brazil,  Boston,  1868. 

Fletoher,  R.,  On  Prehistoric  Trephining,  In  Contributions  to  N. 
A.  Ethnology,  Vol.  V,  Washington. 

Flint,  R.,  The  Philosophy  of  History,  Edinburgh,  1874. 

Forbes.  H.  O.,  A  Naturalist's  Wanderings  in  the  Eastern  Archipel- 
ago, New  York,  1885. 

Fornander,  A.^  The  Polvnesian  Race,  3  vols.,  London,  1878. 

Forster,  A- ,  South  Australia^  London,  1886. 

Forster,  G.,  A  Voyage  round  the  World,  2  vols.,  London,  1777. 

Foster,  J.  W.,   Prehistoric  Races  of  the  United  States,  Chicago, 

1873- 
Franchere,  G.,  Voyage  to  the  Northwest  Coast  of  America,  New 

York,  1814 
Fremont,  J.   C,  Report  of  Exploring  Expeditions,    Washington, 

1845. 

Galton,  F.,  Inquiries  into  Human  Faculty,  New  York,  1883. 

Geikie,  J.,  Prehistoric  Europe,  London,  1881. 
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Gibbon,  L.,  Exploration  of  the  Valley  of  the  Amazon,  Washing- 
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Gill,  W.  W.,  Life  in  the  Southern  Seas,  London,  1876. 
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Graham,  D.,  Massage,  New  York,  1884. 

Gray,  H.,  China,  London,  1878. 

Green,  W.  S.,  High  Alps  of  New  Zealand. 

Guinnard,  A.,  Three  Years'  Slavery  among  the  Patagonians,  trans- 
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Guppy,  H.  B.,  The  Solomon  Islands,  London,  1887. 

Haeckel,  E.,  A  Visit  to  Ceylon,  translated,  London,  1883. 

Hale,  H.,  The  Iroquois  Bo.ok  of  Rites,  Philadelphia,  1883. 

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Harris,  W.  C,  Adventures  in  Africa,  Philadelphia,  no  date. 


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Hartmann,  R.,  Die  Voelker  Afrikas,  Leipzig,  1879. 

Hearn,  W.  E.,  The  Aryan  Household,  London,  1879. 

Hehn,  Y.,  Kulturpflanzen  and  Hausthiere,  Berlin,  18S7. 

Helhvald,  F.  von,  Kulturgeschichte,  2  vols.,  Augsburg,  1883. 

Herndon,  A\'.  H.,  The  \'alley  of  the  Amazon,  Washington,  1S53. 

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Hittell,  T.  H.,  The  History  of  California,  2  vols.,  San  Francisco, 

1885. 
Holule,  E.,  South  Africa,  2  vols.,  Boston,  1881. 
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Hornaday,  W.  T.,  Two  Years  in  the  Jungle,  New  York,  18S5. 
Humboldt,  A.,  Personal  Narrative  of  Travels,  translated,  3  vols., 

London,  1852. 
Hunter,  \V.  W.,  The  Indian  Einpire,  London,  1882. 
Hutchinson,  T.  J.,  The  Parana,  London,  1868. 
Iconographic  Encyclopedia,  The,  Philadelphia,  1886. 
Irving,  W.,  Bonneville's  Adventures,  New  York,  1859. 
Jackson,  H.  H.,  A  Century  of  Dishonor,  New  York,  iS8r. 

"  "        Ramona,  Boston,  1884. 

Jagor,  F.,  Travels  in  the  Philippines,  London,  1875. 
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Jarves,  J.  J.,  A  History  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  Boston,  1843. 
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378  APPENDIX. 

Krapf,  J.  L.,  Eastern  Africa,  London,  i860. 

Kuhn,  A.,  Die  Herabkunft  des  Feuers,  Gutersloh,  1886. 

Latitau,  J.  F.,  Moeurs  des  Sauvages,  2  vols.,  Paris,  1724. 

Lander,  R.  and  J.,  The  Niger,  2  vols.,  New  York,  1846. 

Lane,  E.  W.,  Manners  and  Customs  of  the  Modern  Egyptians,  2 

vols.,  London,  1846. 
La  P^rouse,  J.  F.  G.  de,  Voyage  of,  translated,  3  vols.,  London, 

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Lapham,  L  A.,  The  Antiquities  of  Wisconsin,  Washington,  1S55. 
Latham,  R.  G.,  Natural  History  of  the  Varieties  of  Man,  London, 
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Laycock,  T.,  Mind  and  Brain,  New  York,  1S69. 
Lecky,  W.  E.  H.,  A  History  of  European  Morals,  2  vols.,  London, 

1869. 
Leonowens,  A.  H.,  Life  and  Travels  in  India,  Philadelphia,  1884. 
Letourneau,  C,  Sociology,  translated,  London,  1881. 
Lippert,  J.,  Kulturgeschichte  der  Menschheit  in  ihrem  organischen 
Aufbau,  2  vols.,  Stuttgart,  1886. 
"        •'   Seelencult,  Berlin,  18S1. 
"        "   Die  Geschichte  der  Familie,  Stuttgart,  1884. 
"        "   Allgemeine  Geschichte  des  Priesterthums,  2  vols.,  Ber- 
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Lisiansky,  A.,  A  Voyage  round  the  World,  London,  1884. 
Little,  H.  W.,  Madagascar,  London,  1884. 
Littr6,  M.  P.  E.,  Dictionnaire  de  la  Langue  Francaise,  4  vols.,  Paris, 

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Livingstone,  D.,  Expedition  to  the  Zambesi,  New  York,  1866. 
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"  "     Travels  in  South  Africa,  New  York,  1858. 

Long,  S.  H.,  An  Expedition  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  2  vols.,  Phil- 
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Low,  H.,  Sarawak,  London,  1848. 
Lubbock,  J.,  Origin  of  Civilization,  New  York,  1882. 

"         "     Prehistoric  Times,  New  York,  1872. 
Lyell,  C,  Antiquity  of  Man,  Philadelphia,  1863. 

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Maclean,  J,  P.,  A  Manual  of  the  Antiquity  of  ]\Ian,  Cincinnati,  i8So. 

Elaine,  H.,  Early  Law  and  Custom,  New  York,  1883. 

Mai  thus,  T.,  An  Essay  on  the  Principles  of  Population,  2  vols., 

London,  1S66. 
Marsh,  G.  P.,  The  Earth  as  Modified  by  Human   Action,  New 

York,  1S74. 
Marshall,  W.  E.,  A  Phrenologist  Among  the  Todas,  London,  1873. 
Martmeau,  H.,  Eastern  Life,  Boston,  1876. 
McLennan,  J.  F.,  Studies  in  Ancient  History,  London,  1876. 
McLennan,  J.  F.  and  D.,  The  Patriarchal  Theory,  London,  1SS5. 
Melville,  H.,  Types,  New  York,  1876. 
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]\lilman,  H.  H.,  A  History  of  Christianity,  3  vols.  New  York,  1871. 
Moerenhout,  J.  A.,  Voyages  aux  Isles  du  Grand  Ocean,  3  vols., 

Paris,  1837. 
Mohr,  E.,  To  the  Victoria  Falls,  translated,  London,  1876. 
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1875- 
Morgan,  L.  H.,  Ancient  Society,  New  York,  1877, 

"  "      Systems  of  Consanguinity,  Wtishington,  1871. 

**  "      Hours  and  House  Life  of  the  American  Aborigines, 

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Mortillet,  "G.  de,  La  Prehistorique  Antiquite  de  I'homme ,   Paris, 

1883. 
Mouatt,  F.  J.,  The  Andaman  Islanders,  London,  1S63. 
Muller,  F.,  Ethnographie,  Wien,  1S68. 
Muller,  J.  G.,  Geschichte  der  Amerikanischen  Urreligionen,  Basel, 

1867. 
Muller,   Max,  lectures  on  the  Science  of  Language,  New  York, 
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"        **    Lectures  on  tlie  Science  of  Language,  Second  Series, 

New  York,  1865. 
**        "    Chips  from  a  German  Workship,  5  vols,  New  York, 

1876,  1881. 
"        "    Science  of  Thought,  London,  1887. 
The  two  series  of  lectures  on  the  Science  of  Language  are  cited 
as  two  volumes  of  the  same  w(jrk. 

Nadaillac,  M.  de,  Prehistoric  America,  New  York,  1884. 
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18S2. 


380  APPENDIX. 

O' Donovan,  E.,  The  INIeri  Oasis,  2  vols,  New  York,  18S3. 
Orton,  J.,  The  Andes  and  the  Amazon,  New  York,  1870. 
Overland  Monthly,  San  Francisco. 

Palgrave,  W.  G.,  Central  and  Eastern  Arabia,  2  vols.,  London, 
1865. 
"  "        Dutch  Guiana,  London,  1876. 

Park,  M.,  Travels,  New  York,  1840. 
Parkman,  F.,  Jesuits  in  North  America,  Boston,  1867. 
Parkjns,  M.,  Abyssinia,  2  vols.,  New  York,  1854. 
Parry,  W.  E.,  Journal  of  a  Second  Voyage,  London,  1826. 
Pickering,  C,  The  Races  of  Man,  London,  1864. 
Ploss,  H.,  Das  Kind,  2  vols.,  Berlin,  1882. 

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APPENDIX.  381 

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'•         "     Political  Institutions,  New  York,  18B5. 

"         "     Ecclesiastical  Institutions. 

"         "     Descriptive  Sociology. 
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1S51 
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Waitz,   T.,  Anthropologic  der   Natur  Voelker,  6  vols.,    Leipzig, 
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*( 


3^2  APPENDIX. 

Wallace,  A.  R.,  Darwinism,  New  York,  1889, 

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The  Uncivilized  Races,  by  J.  G.Wood,  is  an  American  edition  of 
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London,  1849. 


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